Hit Us With Your Best Shot
by IloveheartlandX
Summary: Twenty five years after the original glee club graduated, there has been no glee club at McKinley High since Marley, Kitty, Jake and Ryder graduated. Now, the glee clubbers children are in high school and Quinn and Rachel are determined to resurrect the glee club for their children. Will they pull it off, or will the glee club be knocked down once again? Syoc closed!
1. Prologue

Hit Us With Your Best Shot

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, all rights go to RIB and Fox.

A/N: It's official, I'm crazy, starting another syoc story whilst I'm already working on so many other stories but I'm hoping that by the time applications close for this I will have finished at least one of my other stories. I got the idea for the title from the song Hit Me With Your Best Shot because I thought it would make a change from your usual syoc title. Finn will be the Principal of McKinley High in this story, with Quinn and Rachel being the co-directors of the glee club.

Summary: Twenty five years after the original glee club graduated, there has been no glee club at McKinley High since Marley, Kitty, Jake and Ryder graduated. Now, the glee clubbers children are in high school and Quinn and Rachel are determined to resurrect the glee club for their children. Will they pull it off, or will the glee club be knocked down once again?

Chapter 1: Prologue

**Rachel's POV**

**My dream came true but it turns out it was a different one than I first thought. Sure I was on Broadway for a while, but it always felt as if there was something missing and I knew what that something was. Finn. He turned up at one of my shows one night and everything fell back into place. He did his education degree at NYU and after his graduation we married-the ending to our story that we all knew would come eventually. **

**Now we're back in Lima, because no matter how much we wanted to escape when we were teenagers, Lima is home. After Sue retired Finn became Principal of McKinley High. I've been working various jobs since leaving Broadway, but none of them have quite fit right. So I've decided I want to restart the Glee Club at McKinley for my kids, because Glee made me feel like I was a part of something special in high school and I want them to feel like they are a part of something special as well. But I don't want to do it by myself. Not that I couldn't, I just have the perfect person in mind to co-direct with me. If she says yes of course. I press two on my speed dial and wait for my friend to pick up.**

"**Hey Quinn" I say.**

"**Hey Rachel, how are you? she asks.**

"**I'm fine. I want to ask you something and feel free to say no, but I really want to do this with my best friend" I say. Since senior year Quinn and I have been best friends, she was even the maid of honour at my wedding.**

"**What is it?" she asks.**

"**I want to restart Glee at McKinley" I say.**

"**You really think we'd get enough kids to make it work? Glee has never exactly been popular and it's been twenty five years since the club was last run" she says.**

"**We have our kids and all the other former glee clubbers. If we get all of them to join then we'll have more than enough kids" I say.**

"**In which case I'd love to" Quinn says.**

"**Really?" I ask excitedly. **

"**I loved Glee just as much as you did and I want to help bring it back" she says.**

"**I'll meet you at McKinley and we can talk to Finn about starting Glee again" I say.**

"**He's your husband, it's not like he's going to say no" she says.**

"**Not unless he doesn't want sex for a really long time" I say laughing. **

"**I'll see you at McKinley soon" Quinn says.**

"**See you soon, bye" I say hanging up the phone. I get in my car and drive to McKinley where I meet Quinn on the front steps of the school.**

"**This was a great idea Rach" Quinn says.**

"**Let's hope Finn thinks so too" I say. We walk through the halls of McKinley together, towards Finn's office. A number of high school boys wolf whistle at us, though the ones that know me just say "Hello Mrs H".**

**I knock on Finn's office door. "Let them in Helen" he calls to his secretary when he sees me and Quinn through the glass door. **

"**What are you guys doing here? Shouldn't you be teaching Quinn?" he asks.**

"**Tuesdays are my day off remember?" she says.**

"**Oh right. What did the two of you want?" he says.**

"**We have an idea for you" I say.**

"**Which is?" he asks.**

"**We want to restart the glee club here" I say.**

"**That's a great idea guys…." he says.**

"**Why do I feel a but coming on?" Quinn asks.**

"**But the arts budget is really limited. I have been trying to lobby for more funding for the arts at this school, however I haven't had any luck so far" he says.**

"**So it's a definite no then?" I say.**

"**Not necessarily. You can restart Glee" he says.**

"**But with what money?" I say.**

"**That is what I was going to tell you next. You can restart Glee but you'll have to use your own money" he says.**

"**For how long?" Quinn asks.**

"**If you guys win Regionals this year then I will make sure that you get a proper budget, but until then my hands are tied" he says.**

"**So we have to pay for costumes, transport, sheet music, sets, everything for most of the year?" I ask. **

"**I'm sorry. I really wish I had the money to give to you but I don't. This is the only way it will work" he says.**

"**We'll do it" I say.**

"**Looks like you guys have yourself a glee club then" Finn says. I jump and wrap my legs around him before giving him a huge kiss.**

"**You will not regret this" I say.**

"**I'd better not" he says.**

"**Could you guys please finish your sex show at home?" Quinn asks hiding her eyes.**

**We both laugh and Finn gently puts me down. "We'll finish this later" I whisper into his ear.**

"**I look forward to it" he says.**

"**I'll see you at home" I say, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.**

"**I'll see you at home Rach, and I'll see you tomorrow Quinn" Finn says.**

"**Thank you for this Finn, we're really looking forward to bringing Glee back to McKinley" Quinn says. **

"**I'm looking forward to having it back. With you guys leading, I'm sure our Glee Club will be winning National championships" he says.**

"**That's the plan" I say. Quinn and I walk out of Finn's office together and then give each other a big hug.**

"**We got Glee back" I say happily.**

"**It's going to cost us though, a lot" Quinn says worriedly.**

"**Our budget was always tight when we were in New Directions but Mr Schue made it work, so we'll make it work too" I say.**

"**You ready for this?" she asks.**

"**It's been twenty five years since our last National Championship win. I think it's about time we won another one, don't you?" I ask.**

"**Absolutely" Quinn says smiling.**

A/N: The deadline for character submissions for this will be 1st December (but I will extend it if I need to), and it will not be first come, first serve so take your time. The form will also be posted on my profile. Here are the rules:

-Submit your character through PM not review.

-No duplicates of parents, they can have similarities obviously, but no one who is exactly the same.

-No characters that are completely unbelievable.

-I don't want perfect characters-real people with flaws are far more interesting.

-No mary sue's or gary stue's

-The more dramatic your character's storylines are, the more likely I am to pick your character since if you have read some of my other stories, you will know that I like to write drama.

-You can submit multiple characters but I cannot promise that I will accept all of them.

-I will not accept characters that have been submitted to me in my other syoc's.

So that's the rules out of the way, here are the parent pairings:

-Finn and Rachel Hudson-Finn and Rachel split up after graduation, but two years later Finn came to one of Rachel's shows in New York, having moved there to pursue his teaching degree. They married after Finn's college graduation. Finn is now the principal of McKinley High. Rachel had a variety of jobs in the arts after she retired from Broadway but is now the co-director of the glee club along with Quinn (3 kids)

1\. Kennedy Carol Hudson-16-Junior-Straight-TheGleekGal

2\. Savannah "Shay" Caroline Hudson-17-Junior-Straight-AlphaWriter1

3\. Carla "Carly" Bernadette Hudson-14-Freshman-Straight-JayWow

-Quinn and Noah Puckerman-Quinn went to Yale after graduation, along with Puck who went to Southern Connecticut State University. They dated through college and married soon after. Quinn is the drama teacher at McKinley High as well as the glee club co-director along with Rachel. Puck is a coach for the Cleveland Browns. (2 kids)

1\. Rosella "Rose" Kaitlyn Puckerman-16-Junior-Straight-Potterhead2468Gleek4Life

2\. Genevieve "Ginny" Rachel Puckerman-16-Junior-Bi-asexual-Potterhead2468Gleek4Life

3\. Shannon Natalie Puckerman-16-Junior-Lesbian-joshiferjennoist

(A/N: I know bi-asexual seems confusing but it will be explained in the story! I decided to add a third child for them because I liked Shannon)

-Kurt and Blaine Hummel-Anderson-Kurt and Blaine married in New York after Blaine's college graduation. Blaine went to NYADA but although he dreamt of becoming a Broadway actor it never quite worked out for him, however he did start a band with some friends he met at NYADA, he is currently the lead singer. Kurt's internship at Vogue lead to his position as Creative Director at the magazine-he lives in an apartment in New York during the week as he did not want to give up his job when they moved back to Lima (3 kids)

1\. Abena "Abby" Hummel-Anderson-16-Sophomore-Straight (but experimenting)-Anna Duval-Sterling

2\. Sierra Kayla Hummel-Anderson (known as CeeCee by Blaine and close friends)-15-Sophomore-Straight-TheGleekGal

3\. Freya Callie Hummel-Anderson-14-Freshman-Straight-justafairytalegirl

Santana and Brittany Lopez-Pierce-Santana lived with Kurt and Rachel in New York and worked as Rachel's publicist whilst she was on Broadway but this was never what she really wanted to do, she always wanted to perform. Reconciling with Brittany when she moved to New York, helped her to realize her true passion for ballet and she has become a ballet teacher. Brittany left MIT for Julliard and spent years as a backing dancer before becoming a choreographer (3 kids)

1\. Morgan Amanda Lopez-Pierce-15-Sophomore-Straight-JamoActor

2\. Brant Lopez-Pierce-16-Junior-Gay-fdtruhjfthggj

3\. Alexa "Lexi" Faith Lopez-Pierce-16-Junior-Straight-FizzyStarburst

Sam and Mercedes Evans-Mercedes was picked up by a record company after moving to LA and is still a successful singer. Sam went to New York and pursued modelling for a while before deciding that modelling wasn't for him. He decided to put his talent for impressions to good use and became an impressionist-he ran into Mercedes at a show he was performing at in LA, they reconnected and got married a few years later (2 kids)

1\. Jonah "Jo" Samuel Evans-16-Junior-Straight-TheGleekGal

2\. Raina "Ray" Whitney Evans-15-Sophomore-Lesbian-Don'tWannaCloseMyEyes

Sugar and Rory Flanagan-Sugar and Rory met up when Rory moved back to Lima after finishing University in Ireland, they dated and then married. Sugar's father died and she became owner of his piano business, whereas Rory is still a singer (1 kid)

1\. Hamish "Ham" August Flanagan-17-Junior-Gay-ancientblue

Jake and Marley Puckerman-Jake and Marley reconciled after Jake's affair with Bree and married after high school graduation. Marley never became a singer on the radio, instead she is the music teacher at a high school in Cleveland but she still writes her own songs and sings in bars and restaurants whenever she can in order to get exposure. Jake became a dancer after graduating Julliard and now teaches dance to teenagers in the bad district of Lima as a way of getting them off the streets (2 kids)

1\. Joshua "Josh" Ryder Puckerman-14-Freshman-Gay-BabyGleeFan11

2\. Kayleigh "Leigh" Rose Puckerman-16-Junior-Straight-linneagb

Ryder and Kitty Lynn-Ryder and Kitty connected over their shared experience of molestation and started to date. They both went to OSU together, and married after their college graduation. They moved back to Lima after they graduated. Kitty was expected to become the new cheerleading coach at McKinley High but she became the guidance councillor because she didn't want kids to suffer bullying like she did that caused her to change schools. Ryder went to OSU on a football scholarship but has ultimately ended up teaching kids to play the drums (1 kid)

1\. Remy Reagan Lynn-15-Sophomore-Bisexual-Blondie45

Mike and Tina Chang-Mike went to Joffrey Ballet School to become a dancer and Tina went to Brown University. They met up when Tina was visiting Rachel in New York and Mike was working as a dancer in a Broadway show, they reconnected and eventually married. Tina works as a vocal coach and Mike works as a dance teacher (2 kids)

1\. Akira "Kira" Mei Chang-16-Junior-Straight-Don'tWannaCloseMyEyes*

2\. Ruby "Rubes" Blaine Chang-17-Junior-Straight-Danny1993

(*pending agreement from Don'tWannaCloseMyEyes)

Artie and Betty Abrams-Artie went to the Brooklyn Film Academy and became a director which he still is now. He met up with Betty at a McKinley High reunion (she was there with Emma) and they reconnected, eventually marrying. Betty works at a school for the disabled in Lima (1 kid)

1\. Jessica "Jessie" Roe Abrams-15-Sophomore-Bisexual-LunaEvanna Longbottom

Will and Emma Schuester-Will and Emma retired from teaching soon after Finn got a job at McKinley. They tried for a child for years without success and so eventually did IVF and successfully conceived the child they had always wanted (1 kid)

1\. Elijah "Eli" Dominic Schuester-14-Freshman-Straight-linneagb

Non Glee Club Kid OC's:

1\. Candice Laree Hantz-15-Sophomore-Bisexual-JamoActor (twin sister of Morgan Lopez-Pierce)

All kids must be aged 14-17 (freshmen to juniors only) and twins are okay. I will only accept the stated number of children for each couple unless there is a child I like enough to add one more. Here is the form (but it will also be on my profile):

Full Name:

Nicknames:

Insulting Nicknames:

Age:

Grade:

Gender:

Child Of:

Birthday:

Sexuality:

Personality (as descriptive as possible please):

Appearance (as descriptive as possible):

Celebrity Look-A-Like (for the tumblr):

Celebrity Sing-A-Like:

Clothing Style:

Relationship with Parents:

Life History:

Flaws:

Quirks:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Who they would be friends with:

Who they would be enemies with:

Who they would have a relationship with:

Clique:

Clubs/Teams:

Idol:

Dreams/Goals:

Insecurities:

Vocal Range:

Audition Song:

Other songs (min 2, max 5):

Possible storylines (min 2, max 4):

Possible names for the new glee club:

Anything Else:


	2. Cast List and Auditions Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee; all rights go to RIB and Fox.

A/N: I know it has taken so long for me to get this story up and running but it takes a while to get all the characters you want. Congratulations to everyone, whose characters have been accepted, and I'm sorry to anyone whose characters weren't, but if I'd accepted all the characters I got, my cast would be far too big! Just because I didn't accept your character, it doesn't mean I didn't like them. As usual with my syocs, the auditions will be split across two long chapters and there will be a big group number at the end of the second chapter. If your character does not appear in this chapter then they will appear in the next chapter. The auditions take place over a Monday and a Tuesday, and the big group number takes place on a Friday. There will be some M-rated content in this chapter.

Trigger warning: There are scenes of rape in the chapter, mentions of eating disorders &amp; scenes of drug use.

The Hudson Family

Finn Hudson-43-Principal of McKinley High

Rachel Hudson-43-Co-director of the Glee Club with Quinn

Savannah Caroline Hudson (known as Shay)-Rachel and Finn's eldest daughter. She is 17 and in her junior year. She is short, at just over five feet tall but with long toned legs. She has dark chocolate curls that reach her back, and wide, doe like, milk chocolate coloured eyes. Her facial features are all quite small, aside from her Jewish nose. The only thing she shares with Finn looks wise, is his smile. She has an olive complexion but bad skin, meaning she has to use a lot of facial products; she also has deep dimples and perfectly arched eyebrows (although these are slightly bushy) and has a curvy figure. She's very concerned about her social standing, and loves to remind everyone how pretty she is. She's very conceited about the things she's good at. She is an overachiever and very outgoing, but does not quite have the ability to be the HBIC at McKinley. She is very witty and good at insulting people, although she hates hurting people. She likes to help people and she's a real matchmaker, trying to help everyone find their "perfect match". She is straight. Submitted by AlphaWriter1

Kennedy Carol Hudson-Kennedy is the Hudson's middle daughter and is 16 and in her junior year. Like Shay, she takes after Rachel more than Finn, with her wavy chocolate coloured hair that reaches a few inches past her bust, which she usually wears naturally, although occasionally she will straighten it, or when it becomes difficult to manage or she's feeling lazy, she will wear it in a messy ponytail or fishtail braid. She wears her bangs to one side so her dark eyebrows and forehead are visible. She has a naturally lightly tanned complexion thanks to her Jewish roots, which even though it looks perfect, she does sometimes get pimples. She has hazel green eyes. She is about 5'5 and weighs 115 lbs, and has a slim, athletic build but still with some curves. She wears a normal amount of makeup without going overboard. She has a diamond shaped face and thin but full lips. She appears as very confident, intelligent, bright, mature and sure of herself, which is intimidating to all those around her. She's very determined and ambitious, and works hard. She thinks she dreams of attending NYADA and being on Broadway, but she's not sure anymore, and it scares her, so she doesn't talk about her doubts to anyone except Jonah Evans (her best friend). She doesn't come off as very approachable, seeming cold, serious and uptight, but that's only because she is so stressed and she has a sharp, witty tongue, but she only uses it if she is stressed out and she will usually apologise for her sarcastic comebacks. She is usually quite serious, and doesn't relax and have fun very often; she doesn't know when to take a break. She feels like all the fun has been taken out of everything given how hard she's working for NYADA. She is welcoming, friendly, and loyal and down to earth, but only when you get to know her. She prefers to be alone to work on her own, not because she's anti-social, but because she believes people get in her way when she's in the zone for work. She's not a risk taker, she's far more comfortable playing it safe, but she is curious about trying new things which is usually why she gets into trouble (most of the time with Jonah) but she tends to get off with a warning due to her stellar reputation. She isn't usually one to get into trouble, or break rules, but she knows that rules are sometimes meant to be broken. She is very competitive but a good sport, as long as she loses fairly. It can be hard for her to work with others because she likes to take charge with her own ideas rather than listen to other people, though this means she makes for a good leader. Around Jonah, her daring, goofier, laid back, occasionally rebellious, and go with the flow side appears. She is either completely oblivious to boys flirting with her, or she makes it a bit awkward for them, causing them to run away from her. She is straight. Submitted by TheGleekGal.

Carla Bernadette Hudson (known as Carly)-The youngest daughter of the Hudson's, she is 14 and in her freshman year. She is the odd one out in her family, personality wise and appearance wise. She did have the same chocolate brown, curly hair as Shay and Kennedy, but she got bored with it in 8th grade and so she dyed it red. She usually wears it loose and curly, and it reaches just to the top of her bust (if she ever straightens it, it reaches just past). She has bangs swept to the right side of her face, which she usually pins, or braids back. Her face is diamond shaped, and she has almond shaped eyes, and her father's Greek nose rather than her mother's Jewish nose. She has thin lips and nice teeth (although they aren't perfectly straight). She is quite short at 5'2.5 and weighs around 125 lbs, with a slim, athletic build. She can always find something to be positive and excited about and when she's very excited, she can't help but show it. She can sometimes be a little socially awkward, not knowing when the right time to say things is. She tries to focus on the positive things, and making sure everyone is happy, positive and smiling. She loves to help people and make sure they are okay, sometimes putting other people before herself. She is quite childish and immature (the opposite to Kennedy) and sometimes lazy. She doesn't like to be serious and prefers to just be laid back and go with the flow. If she makes a mistake she'll either learn from it, or just make the same mistake over and over, but she will own it no matter what. She's very creative, sometimes she can be a little too creative and out there, to the point where people might advise her to do something a little differently, however she likes to do things her own way. She finds playing it safe boring, and she doesn't like things to be boring. She can be very naïve, because she believes everyone has some good in them if you give them the chance to prove themselves. If you are given a chance and break Carly's trust, it can be very hard to gain it back. If she's not smiling then she'll be hiding her emotions till they explode. People used to assume she was bipolar until she was tested and it was proved she wasn't. The one thing she does take seriously is her music, she loves to mix, make and record her own tracks and will scream at you if you bother her (though she will apologise later). Because she's so bubbly, and at times ditsy and hyper, occasionally making jokes, everyone assumes that she's never serious about anything, especially her future and that she has no potential. She can almost be too outgoing, loving to meet new people, make new friends, and shamelessly flirt with any cute guy within a mile radius even if she embarrasses herself. She can be a bit clumsy. Even when around people she doesn't like, she tries her best to keep her smile for a long time, but if you push her she can become feisty and fiery, even though her insults do not rival Shay's or Kennedy's. Although she loves to help other people, she tends to handle her own issues by herself. She's a loyal friend, who will always have your back. She is straight. Submitted by JayWow

The Puckerman Family (Quick)

Noah "Puck" Puckerman-Football coach for the Cleveland Browns

Lucy Quinn Puckerman (Quinn)-Co director of the Glee Club with Rachel and drama teacher at McKinley High

Rosella Kaitlyn Puckerman (known as Rose)-Rose is 16 &amp; a junior, and she is the twin sister of Ginny Puckerman. She is the elder twin, being born a few hours earlier than her sister on December 31st, her sister was born on January 1st. Rose had naturally brown hair, but she dyed her hair blonde when she first started high school and has never gone back. Over the summer she dip dyed the ends of her hair pink. She has blue-ish green eyes and is fairly tall at 5'8. She's not particularly skinny but she doesn't care what other people think, she loves the way she looks. She is a loud, outgoing type of girl, and can never, ever stop talking. She tends to ramble when she gets nervous, and although this isn't often, when she's around a cute guy she becomes a stuttering mess. She is fairly popular and is in almost every club there is aside from Cheerios because of how clumsy she is, and almost everyone at school knows her. She loves to make people happy, and loves being liked; it upsets her when people don't like her, to the point where she will stop at nothing to get people to like her. She can be annoying at times due to her bubbly personality, but is always there when you need her, and is great for a laugh. She is fairly stubborn but not as much as Ginny, she is very determined, and prone to random fits of laughter, for no reason at all. Whilst she doesn't play sports, she loves to watch them with her father. She is straight. Submitted by Potterhead2468GleekforLife

Genevieve Rachel Puckerman (known as Ginny)-Ginny is 16 and a junior, she is the twin sister of Rose. She is the younger twin, being born a few hours after Rose, in the early hours of January 1st, as opposed to Rose who was born in the late hours of December 31st. She is 5'4, slightly on the shorter side, and much shorter than her twin. She has blue eyes and a big smile (when she shows it). She has ombered brown hair, which reaches just to the top of her butt when it is straight, but she usually wears it naturally which is wavy, and she wears in various styles, her favourites being either in a high ponytail, or down with a flower crown. Personality wise, she is the complete opposite to her sister, being one of the quietest people you will ever meet, outside of her friends and family, hardly anyone has heard her speak. She's afraid of what people might think of her if she does talk, so she stays silent most of the time. She suffers from social anxiety, meaning she gets nervous around large groups of people, and her breathing becomes shallow, her heart races and she starts thinking all of these terrible things. If she doesn't get out of the situation she could have a panic attack, or pass out so she keeps herself to herself and avoids social situations. She's still quiet around her friends and family and hasn't told them anything about being bi or asexual, and until they noticed she didn't tell her friends about her panic attacks or anxiety. She has a very soft voice, so when she speaks it's hard to hear her, and she does know that but she gets annoyed having to repeat herself. She's very patient, kind and a sort of mother figure to her friends. When her friends do something risky or something potentially embarrassing, she always tries to stop them because she's afraid they will get hurt. Although her mothering nature makes her slightly overprotective at times, it means that she's always someone you can count on if you need advice or help. She is Bi-Asexual.

Shannon Natalie Puckerman (known as Shan)-Shannon is 16, and a junior, the youngest daughter of Quinn and Puck being that her birthday is on 27th February. She is quite tall, and of a medium weight and she has little green eyes, and long curly brown hair. She is a private girl and she doesn't like to talk with other about her life, so she hides everything, her sexuality, her eating disorder, and puts a smile on her face and pretends everything is okay. She is a loyal, helpful girl and she is always ready to give advice even if she can sometimes be a little too honest. She is not popular like her parents, she is considered a nerd and she loves studying, working on her computer and reading fantasy books. She never hangs out with anyone and is not self-confident, she doesn't see how beautiful she really is and she always thinks she is the one to blame. She was adopted by Quinn and Puck at age 4 as he real mother used to beat her up when she was drunk. She realised she was a lesbian at 15, and had secretly been in love with her best friend for ages, but she hasn't told anyone. Submitted by joshiferjennoist

The Hummel-Anderson family

Kurt Hummel-Anderson-43-Creative Director at Vogue

Blaine Hummel-Anderson-42-Lead singer of a band

Abena Elizabeth Hummel-Anderson (known as Abby)-Abby is the eldest of Kurt and Blaine's daughters at 16, in her sophomore year. She has dark skin, and an afro. She is small and petite but still rather curvy. She is kind of shy and doesn't really like meeting strangers who have to do with her past. However on stage she loses her shyness and she loves to sing. She is very active, and loves dancing (and she is really good at it) and so is very close to her Uncle Mike. She is very polite, as she was taught to be by Kurt and Blaine. She is kind of anxious due to her past experiences and is afraid that the people from her past will find her. She doesn't like to talk about her past (only her family and best friends know) but she can open up through singing and dancing (she particularly loves contemporary dance as it is full of emotion). She feels like she needs to help everyone in need because she is so thankful for what she has experienced being adopted by Kurt and Blaine, and thinks she never deserved it, and she is very warm hearted. When around people she knows and trusts, she is very outgoing. She was adopted from Burkina Faso, Africa and used to live in a village where female children would be raped from the age of 5 or 6 and be forced to serve the older and more powerful people there, so her birth mother saved her by giving her away. As there were no opportunities to be adopted in Burkina Faso, she was flown to America and adopted by Kurt and Blaine when she was five years old. She was told about her past by Kurt and Blaine when she was 10 and it really confused her. She learned to trust people by playing Violet Beauregarde in a child's play of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and becoming best friends with the girl who played Veruca Salt. She's never really had a boyfriend. People sometimes pick on her because of her dad and how quiet she is. She is straight (but experimenting). Submitted by Anna Duval-Sterling

Sierra Kayla Hummel-Anderson (known as CeeCee by Blaine and by close friends). She has brown skin that normally looks flawless and doesn't need sunscreen unless she spends time out in the sun. She gets pimples just like everyone else though. Her almond shaped eyes are dark brown, her lips are plump and her face is heart shaped. Her midnight brown hair is naturally kinky with tight curls. She recently dip dyed the ends of her hair a red-burgundy-ish colour. When she wears her hair naturally it is a curly bob which barely touches her shoulders, however she rarely does this, and most of the time she straightens it, allowing it to be a little wavy and she has side swept bangs over her left eyebrow, so it reaches her busts, although sometimes she will straighten it completely. She likes to have a braid or several in her hair sometimes too, or she will have her hair in a fishtail, or she'll curl it a bit more and sweep it all to the right and wear a bandanna. She is 5'4 and weighs around 115 lbs and has a slim but athletic build with some curves. She's a very welcoming, open minded, kind hearted girl. She's very outgoing when it comes to meeting new people and making new friends. She jokes around a lot but she knows when to stop if the joke has gone too far. She's a very loyal friend but you have to be honest and trustworthy to her, otherwise you are more than likely to lose her friendship, it takes her a while to forgive you and she never forgets. She has a very witty, sarcastic tongue for those who cross her. She has a slight diva side, but this generally only comes out when she is performing, or when she's dealing with someone she doesn't like. She is a perfectionist when it comes to her performances, everything she ever performs has to be note, or step if she's dancing, perfect. She loves a challenge and tends to push herself harder than she should. When confronted with guys, at first she is a stuttering mess but given enough time, she will return to her normal, cool, collected self. When's she angry she will yell, when she's sad, she will keep quiet until she bursts. Though she likes to help others, she'd usually rather leave herself to deal with her own problems. She was put in a foster home when she was 1 after her biological parents died in a house fire. She was adopted at 3 by Tasha, Tasha being a distant relative of hers. However she soon met a guy named Andre who was a bad influence on her, drinking and partying all the time. One night when she was 4, at a party, Andre took advantage of the little girl, and a neighbour found them. She then went back to the foster home, and was later adopted by Kurt and Blaine. She is straight. Submitted by TheGleekGal

Freya Callie Hummel-Anderson (known as Frey Frey, to her good friends when they want to annoy her)-Freya is Kurt and Blaine's youngest daughter, she is 14 and in her freshman year. She has short, curly wispy blond hair that is cut around where her chin starts. She has hazel eyes and a petite body. She has a pale complexion. She usually wears her hair in its natural mess of curls, but she might straighten it on special occasions and will tie it half up, half down for dance class (with the little length she has). She doesn't usually smile often but when she does truly smile, her smile is very bright and happy. She tends to smirk at people in amusement. She is blunt and aggressive when provoked and she isn't afraid to start a fight if anyone messes with her or the people she cares about. She is very sarcastic and kind of cruel, she isn't nice to people who tend to be horrible people meaning she doesn't feel bad about it. She is very reserved and almost never tells anyone anything. She loves singing and dancing and performing but she neglects those feelings because she thinks she isn't good enough. Freya was born to a dancer mother, who became pregnant at a young age, then her mother got a job as a waitress and her dad worked as a mechanic. Things were good when she was young, but her first memory is of her dad coming home drunk and her mother locking her in her room, while she fell asleep, flinching each time her mother cried out as her dad hit her. These nights only occurred rarely until her father lost his job and because the door to Freya's room hadn't been locked and her mother couldn't calm him down, he hit Freya, she was only six years old at the time. Her mother ran away with her, but they wouldn't take her in because they didn't approve of her life choices. She went to stay with a friend from high school. One night when Freya was seven, almost a year after her dad hit her the first time, she was waiting for her mum to come and pick her up after work, when her father came and kidnapped her. Drunk and wasted, he raped his daughter and she wasn't found until 1 am. He was arrested and sent to jail while her mother was so emotionally traumatized by what her life had become, and what had happened to Freya that she committed suicide the next week. Freya was so angry, she refused to talk to social workers until she was eight years old and was told that there was a couple willing to adopt her. She had returned to normal somewhat, but she's never been the same after what her father did to her. Kurt and Blaine adopted her, and at eight she wrote I her journal she thinks she was meant to be Kurt and Blaine's daughter, but that nostalgia has grown into a teenager. She calls them by their first names as she doesn't see them as her parents, rather her legal guardians, as they adopted her at the age of eight, and they already had 10 year old Abby, and 9 year old Sierra. She is straight. Submitted by justafairytalegirl

The Lopez-Pierce family

Santana Lopez-Pierce-43-Ballet teacher

Brittany Lopez-Pierce-42-Choreographer

Alexa Faith Lopez-Pierce (known as Lexi)-Santana and Brittany's eldest child (she is 3 months older than Brant) and eldest daughter. She is 16 and a junior. Lexi is Brittany's biological daughter, and her father is Kurt Hummel-Anderson, but she does not know this. She is of medium height and build, with C cup breasts. She has short red hair cut in a bob, pale skin, blue eyes, a thin nose, and full lips. She is go getter, always pursuing what she wants and has just the right amount of charisma, determination and energy to get her there. She's vivacious, full of life, and there is always a smile on her face and a slight song to her voice. She's very involved in school and always needs something to do. She's organised, sometimes slightly compulsive and if anything goes wrong with her plans, the people involved can consider themselves dead to her. She gives a lot of speeches, and is a real people person in all senses of the word. She's good with people and knows how to use them to her advantage. She's good at thinking on her feet, but she'd rather not because that would mean someone screwed up one of her plans. She has an insane talent for trivia and often remembers things word for word. She is straight. Submitted by FizzyStarburst.

Brant Lopez-Pierce (known as Bran)-Brant is 16, a junior and the eldest and only son of Santana and Brittany Lopez-Pierce. He is Santana's biological son, but he doesn't know who his father is (he and Lexi don't share the same father). He has light brown hair and brown eyes. He has a muscular figure as he is on the swim team, and has air white skin. He has thick eyebrows and a lazy eye. He has a big knife scar from an incident on his left cheek and has a tiny mole above his chin. He also has crooked teeth and a birth mark on his belly button. He is not a stereotypical gay. He is strong and brave and masculine. He has a short temper and a bad attitude if he is angry or if someone is being mean to him (or either of his sisters). He is smart (in a sort of common sense way) but not book smart. He tends to be quite messy, and he speaks without a filter on what he says. He is loyal and helpful. He will fight and stand up for his friends and family. He will help anyone who needs help. He is a party animal and loves partying and drinking. He can also be friendly, and playful, and full of energy. He can also be selfish sometimes, and shallow. Submitted by fdtruhjfthggj

Morgan Amanda Lopez-Pierce (known as Mo)-Morgan is 15, and a sophomore, the youngest of Brittany and Santana's children, and the only adopted one. She is the twin sister of Candice Hantz, born three minutes before her to Marcus and Martha Hantz. She was put up for adoption immediately after she was born, for reasons still unknown to her. Her birth parents tried to get her back when she was five but she chose to stay with Santana and Brittany. When she was 12, her parents again tried to contact her but she denied them, and refused to acknowledge their existence as she is yet to forgive them for putting her up for adoption, though she has a great relationship with both Santana and Brittany. She has long blonde hair that reaches halfway down her back, and blue almond shaped eyes. She has a small mouth, and a button type nose. She is very tall at 5'11, but is still quite petite. She is a 32B bra size. She is a very caring, passionate and trustworthy girl. She can be a little dim witted but she still gets good grades. She is straight. Submitted by JamoActor

The Evans Family

Sam Evans-42-Impressionist

Mercedes Evans-43-Singer

Jonah Samuel Evans (known as Jo)-Jo is attractive and he knows it. He has naturally tanned skin that has the common blemishes, pimples etc. He mostly looks like Mercedes but he has inherited some of his father's features, his charming smile, his lips, his eye shape and his jawline. He has dark, mysterious brown eyes that can get girls to gaze into them endlessly. He has dark chocolate hair that is actually curly and a little kinky when worn naturally, but thanks to hair gel and his morning rituals, he gels/spikes it up. He is 5'11 and weighs around 150 lbs with a lean, muscular, athletic build and a six pack thanks to his sports. He has a diamond nose piercing. He is known as a troublemaker and only bothers to learn rules so he can break them. He does as he pleases most of the time, not being bothered by what other people say, even his parents. He is charming, and was born with this natural, drama free charisma that makes you want to be around him all the time. He tries to live a drama free life and is one of the most genuine, transparent and honest people you will ever meet. He has a tough, rugged outer shell but he is a real gentleman, who's softer than he lets on. He's goofy and a huge dork. He's clever and witty and way too sarcastic for his own good. He somehow always manages to get himself into trouble, but 8 times out of 10, he's able to get out of it and he has become infamous for that. He's loyal to his friends, and he won't back down in order to defend them and he's more than happy to stand up for people who either won't or can't stand up for themselves, so watch out if you insult anyone he cares about. He has a bad habit of making snap, quick decisions when he is upset or jealous, or angry. He's more of a fight now; ask questions later type of guy. He is extremely competitive and a good leader. He occasionally comes across as cold hearted, which scares people. He always appears confident because he doesn't like to seem vulnerable. He only lets his siblings or his best friend Kennedy, see his softer side. He thinks he has to be strong for everyone else and hates feeling weak. He is a great shoulder to cry on. He's a very honest, genuine and blunt person and believes in saying things as they are, despite appearing to be a typical womanizer. He's very fearless and won't back down from a challenge. He's a huge flirt but he's very upfront about his womanizing nature to the girls he goes out with. He's very impulsive. He's not very good at committing to girls, so his relationships don't last long but he is faithful to the girls he goes out with. He gets frustrated easily and has serious jealous issues that he only ever talks to Kennedy or Raina about. He's not as perfect as he might appear from the outside, he tends to be a perfectionist and blames himself if he can't get things right, he pushes himself to be the best in everything so he can prove he's worth something. He's very passionate and gives 100% to everything he tries to do. He is straight. Submitted by TheGleekGal

Raina Whitney Evans (known as Ray)-Ray is small and petite at 5'1, with a very slender, petite body. She doesn't have many curves. She has a slender oval shaped face with small, almond shaped brown eyes. Her hair is naturally very curly but she relaxes it and straightens it, and when it's straight its waist length. She has full pink lips and a sharp nose, and caramel coloured skin. Her hair is dark chocolate brown. She is sensitive and perceptive, gifted at reading other people. She tends to trust her own instincts (and with good reason) because she is usually right and she knows it She is genuinely warm and affirming by nature, typically gentle and caring. She is dedicated to finding and achieving the perfect relationship and has good communication skills. She takes commitments very seriously and has very high expectations of herself and others. She is a good listener. Once she's sure a relationship is over, she is usually able to move on. She is artistic and creative, and very insightful about people and situations. She is concerned for others' feelings and is careful not to hurt them. She likes to work independently. She's warm, nurturing, protective, stubborn and very quiet, but not shy. She has known she was a lesbian since she was 13 when she became attracted to her best friend, and didn't even notice boys. She's never been in a relationship or been kissed. Submitted by Don'tWannaCloseMyEyes

The Flanagan Family

Rory Flanagan-41-Singer

Sugar Flanagan-41-Owner of Motta's Pianos

Hamish August Flanagan (known as Ham)-Ham is the eldest and only child of Rory and Sugar, he is 17 and in his junior year. He is 5'8 and weighs about 140 lbs. He is skinny and not very muscular. He has peachy white skin and pointy ears that stick out a bit. He has round hazel coloured eyes and a small nose that is a little bulbous at the end. He has wavy, brown medium length hair with his fringe swept to one side to stop it from getting in his eyes. He is a fun guy that likes to goof around a little, but really he is not very happy and is insecure. He will joke around with his friends and will always put up a front but that is very fragile and can break if someone says the wrong thing, this will either make him really mad or upset. He is a gentle soul who cares deeply for others and their wellbeing but he doesn't care enough about himself. He is sweet and nice to most people even if they aren't nice to him, because deep down he feels like he doesn't deserve to be treated with respect. He is insecure, so he is easily manipulated and succumbs to peer pressure and temptation. He worries about what people think of him, he is insecure about the way he looks, his sexuality (even though he owns it) and his relatively low intelligence. He's not really a nervous person so he tries not to let his insecurities get in the way. He is a hugger. He started questioning his sexuality at 13, and came out as gay to his parents and all of his friends at 15, though this didn't really change anything with anyone. He was happy at this point in his life. When he was 16, his friends began to experiment with drugs and Ham did too, starting off by trying things like marijuana and alcohol but he didn't really enjoy it. One time his friend Nate convinced him to try heroin and they both became addicted and used it on a regular basis. One night after using it, Hamish passed out, waking up in the hospital the next day to find out that Nate had been hit by a car and killed. He tried to quit using but he had strong withdrawal symptoms, so he went back to using and this time became dependent on it. He has managed to cut down his use a little, but he relies on it to remain happy and sometimes now injects it. Submitted by ancientblue

The Puckerman family (Jarley)

Jake Puckerman-40-Dance teacher

Marley Puckerman-40-Music teacher at a high school in Cleveland

Kayleigh Rose Puckerman (known as Leigh)-Leigh is the Puckerman's eldest child, and only daughter, she is 16 &amp; in her junior year. She has dark brown and black, long wavy hair. She has brown eyes, light brown skin and is quite short, but not extremely short. She is slim, but curvy. She has a crooked smile and her front teeth are slightly crooked. She has scars on her neck, her shoulders, both the back of them and on her collar bone and on her back, also on the lowest part of the back of her head, therefore there is no hair there, but her hair is so long it doesn't show, these are from burns caused by scalding hot water. She is happy and full of life and energy. She will always show her feelings, whatever they are and when she's angry, she is really angry. When you don't know her well, you might think she is selfish and always put herself first but when you get to know her, you realize that she is very caring and is always there to be a hand for someone to hold, or a shoulder to cry on. She would do anything to protect her friends, even if this means getting herself into trouble. She is definitely a daddy's girl and has Jake wrapped around her finger. She tries to keep a sporty and positive lifestyle and she will try to act strong even when she feels like she can't. Her scars were caused by an accident when she was five, she was sitting on the kitchen floor and Marley was walking behind her holding a kettle full of boiling water and tripped, causing the water to spill all over Leigh's back, neck and shoulders. She's had several skin transplants already and will probably need more. She has a secret boyfriend whom she met whilst helping Jake with one of his dance classes but she hasn't told her family because she thinks her dad will disapprove. She is straight. Submitted by linneagb

Joshua Ryder Puckerman (known as Josh)-Josh is the Puckerman's youngest child and only son. He is 14 and in his freshman year. He is of African American and Caucasian descent, as is his sister. He inherited Marley's skin tone. He has black hair and brown eyes which change colour depending on the light. He is around medium height at 5'7. He weighs 103 lbs. Before the tragedy occurred when he was 11, he was very shy and kept himself to himself. He would usually be found reading a book, and when he did let people in he would be a fun and energetic person. After an incident when he was 11 however, he became a completely different person. He became mean spirited and had anger issues. He began to hang around the wrong crowd and began to misbehave. He became a badass. He became rebellious and would often sneak out at night. Even though he was cruel to others, deep down inside Josh was insecure about himself and hates everything about himself. He became a person he never thought he would become. He wants to change for the better and become friendly and outgoing again but he can't. He is very daredevil-ish and extremely cocky. He is confident in who he is as well as his determination. He is also fashionable. He is sarcastic and refers to himself in the third person often. He is fierce and fiery. People believe he is a mean spirited and evil person who lives to bring people down but he's really just an insecure and sweet boy on the inside. He is very determined and is able to read people well just by how they act. He is the definition of a savage. The incident that happened when he was 11 was that a close friend of Josh's drugged him and raped him in front of his friends, who watched the tragedy happen but didn't help. Josh hasn't told anyone about the situation and Derek became abusive and began to stalk Josh. Derek became controlling over Josh no matter how hard Josh tried to get away from him, he couldn't. Josh is dyslexic but clever and sneaky. He is gay. Submitted by BabyGleeFan11

The Lynn Family

Ryder Lynn-40-Drum teacher

Kitty Lynn-40-Guidance councillor at McKinley High

Remy Reagan Lynn (known as Rem)-Remy is Ryder and Kitty's eldest and only child, he is 15 and in his sophomore year. He is 5'11 and has a lean body. He has tanned skin and hazel eyes. He weighs 146 lbs. He has a small mole on the back of his neck. He has a faint scar on his right hip. He is near sighted but he wears contacts. He is described as a patient and loyal friend by everyone. He gets jealous quite easily. He keeps his emotions bottled up. He is very self-confident and competitive. He is described as kind, caring, empathetic, compassionate, loving, affectionate, heroic, noble, selfless, brave, intelligent, protective and loyal, at least when he is at his best. He does not like to see others suffering no matter what kind of pain they are in. He's always willing to save people who need saving. He is highly honourable, noble, brave, courageous, altruistic and selfless especially when it comes to the people he cares about. He is charismatic, charming and passionate and deeply romantic and because of this he is highly magnetic and popular with both sexes. He has a very selfless, idealistic approach to love. He is known to be respectful, polite, courteous and chivalrous towards both sexes. He's very sarcastic and funny. His emotions can change very quickly. He's emotionally fragile and loves recklessly and blindly. He's somewhat naïve and gullible and he always tries to believe the best in people. People usually take advantage of Remy's kindness and trust. When he's the one in need no one is there to help him. He found out he was bisexual when he was 13 and to this day, hasn't told anyone as he thinks it will limit his chances for a football scholarship. Submitted by Blondie45

The Chang family

Mike Chang-43-Dance teacher

Tina Chang-42-Vocal coach

Ruby Blaine Chang (known as Rubes)-Ruby is the Chang's eldest daughter, she is 17 and in her junior year. She is a physically beautiful young girl, she has striking brown eyes and shoulder length dyed light brown hair (which is naturally black) and a pierced nose. She is tall, like her dad and is very pale. She is skinny and has a small tattoo of her initials on her lower back. She is very outgoing girl, and is always in trouble. She is the complete opposite of her parents, where they were shy, Ruby is very confident and friendly, and she causes mischief wherever she goes. She does have a more sensitive side but this rarely shows because she doesn't want to seem weak as she is "one of the guys". She is often very impulsive, doing what she wants, when she wants, regardless of the consequences. She is straight. Submitted by danny1993

Akira Mei Chang (known as Kira)-Kira is 16, in her junior year, and is the youngest daughter of Tina and Mike. She is small; she stands at 5'3 and is very curvy with lightly tanned skin. She has dark brown, almost black eyes and straight black hair which was dyed a medium/dark-ish brown, which is just past shoulder length and with blunt bangs. She has a small nose with a round chin and an oval shaped face she has a long-ish neck, and small breasts, around a B cup. She has slender waist, with short, stumpy legs and tiny feet. She is a happy, bubbly and intelligent girl. She is unpredictable, one minute she's a total sweetheart, the next she's a total witch, and it depends on whether she likes you or not. She's not shy, it's nearly impossible to get her to shut up, she tends to babble on about nonsense and this sometimes annoys people. She may even come off as dumb, but she's actually very smart and capable of having an intelligent conversation with anyone, as long as they keep up with her. She is a ball of energy, hardly ever bored or tired and often looking for ways to entertain herself. She can be superficial as she enjoys being popular and knows that she's pretty. Her superficiality makes her very insecure about her appearance, especially the fact that she's much curvier than the other Cheerios. She wears her heart on her sleeve, she's almost always happy, so she can't hide it if she's sad or angry. She's a great student, a closeted braniac, however though she's smart she's lazy-Kira is the type of girl who can spend 2 minutes studying and still get a B which often frustrates her parents as she has so much potential. She is temperamental, unforgiving and holds grudges. She always keeps her promises but she's not good at keeping secrets. She's honest, to the point where it's brutal, and she loves attention. She's easily scared although people think she's tough. She's an optimistic person and often looks at things from a positive perspective. She is snarky, but not sarcastic, because for some reason she hates sarcasm. She's a risk taker, adventurous, and doesn't hold back. She's difficult to please but once you win her over she'll go to the ends of the Earth to make you happy. She is straight, but doesn't mind making out with girls. Submitted by Don'tWannaCloseMyEyes

The Abrams Family

Artie Abrams-42-Director

Betty Abrams-41-Teacher at school for the disabled in Lima

Jessica Roe Abrams (known as Jessie)-Jessie is 15, and a sophomore, the eldest and only child of Betty and Artie. She has shoulder length black hair and dark brown eyes. Her skin is quite pale, and she has a very lean body that stands at 5'7. She has five piercings in each of her ears and three tattoos, a small uncoloured in star behind her left ear, a medium sized panda tattoo on the back of her right shoulder, and the words "I choose to be unstoppable. I am bigger than my concerns and worries. The strength of others inspires me daily. I focus on my goal. I trust my intuitions and live a courageous life" wrapped around her upper left arm. She is one of the best people you'll meet. She's not overly sensitive or easily offended because she had to grow a thick skin when it came to other people. In school people would tease her for having two paraplegic parents and that went on until the seventh grade. She is a very funny person and love to make people uncomfortable when they ask about her and her parents even though it's no big deal to her. She does sometimes use her parents injuries to make jokes, like taking something her mum or dad wants and/or needs and holding it up in the air telling them they have to reach for it if they really want it, but they don't get offended. They're used to her humour. She is bi-sexual. Submitted by LunaEvanna Longbottom

The Schuester family

Will Schuester-63-Retired

Emma Schuester-60-Retired

Elijah Dominic Schuester (known as Eli)-Eli Schuester is the eldest and only son of Emma and Will, conceived via IVF when Emma was 45. He is 14 and in his freshman year. He has brown hair, of medium length. He has big hands and feet. His eyes don't focus (he is completely blind) and he usually wears sunglasses and uses either a white cane or holds the white harness of his guide dog Bella (a yellow Labrador) or both, with one thing in either hand. He has a crooked smile and a scar along his cheek from where he cut himself on a branch when he was four. His arms and legs appear too long for his body and he has quite a fit body. He has never let being blind push him down, he goes through life with his cane and with Bella, and a will to do good. He's very kind and caring and has a way of knowing when other people are upset, even though he can't see them. He has a good sense of humour, and even when people make fun of him for being blind, he makes the same jokes himself which makes people mad. He's fine singing and dancing by himself, all he needs is cane or Bella to be able to feel how far it is from different points, although he can't see how someone wants him to dance, they just have to explain it to him. He always tries his best and tries not to get frustrated when he can't manage to do what people want. But he stays positive and chooses to focus on what he has got, rather than what he hasn't. He is very social and loves hanging out with his friends, and wants to have a girlfriend someday-hopefully someday soon. He loves anyone who can see past his disability for who he truly is. Bella is three years old; he got her for his thirteenth birthday. He is straight. Submitted by linneagb

Non Glee Club Kid OC's:

Candice Laree Hantz (known as Candi)-Candi is the twin sister of Morgan Lopez-Pierce, so she is also 15 and in her sophomore year. She is the daughter of Marcus and Martha Hantz, and was born three minutes after Morgan. She has shoulder length blonde hair, with blue almond shaped eyes. She has a quite small mouth and has a button type nose. She stands at 5'11 and is quite petite. Her chest size is 32B (basically she looks exactly the same as Morgan except Candi has wavy hair, whereas Morgan has straight hair). She is very loyal, kind and sweet but not very trusting of people due to her past. She was molested by her father at the age of five after Morgan rejected coming to live with them, and this continued until she was 12, after her birth parents tried to contact Morgan again and she denied them, her father raped her and he has being doing this ever since. She is bisexual. Submitted by JamoActor

(A/N: So there are the characters, sorry that was so long, but I wanted you to have a good idea of who everyone was before I started the story proper. Once again congratulations to those whose characters were, accepted, sorry to those whose weren't and here are the auditions)

_Shay's POV_

"_Have you thought anymore about joining the Glee Club this year?" my mom says, ambushing me as soon as I come downstairs for breakfast. I thought I'd made it clear in the many arguments that we'd had since she announced that she and Aunt Quinn were reinstating the Glee Club that I did not want to join it. But still she keeps on pushing this. I don't see why she needs me to join, Kennedy will because it will look good on her NYADA application &amp; Carly will most likely join as well, so the Hudson family is well represented, I don't need to be there as well._

"_Yes, as a matter of fact I have. I'm not going to do it" I snap._

"_Savi come on! You love singing, I know you do and you like to dance, plus if you join then lots of other kids are likely to join because you're popular" Mom pleads._

"_No" I respond, crossing my arms and shaking my head._

"_You just have to make everyone's life difficult don't you? Can't you for once do something I ask?" Mom asks, raising her voice slightly._

"_Not if I don't want to I can't" I retort._

"_What would be so horrible about joining Glee? You love to sing and all of the other glee clubbers kids will be there" she says._

"_Why would I care about that? The only people from our extended glee "family" that I associate with at school are Rubes and Kira because they're both Cheerios, and Remy and Brant because they're jocks" I say._

"_You speak to Kennedy don't you?" she asks._

"_That doesn't count, she's my sister" I respond._

"_What about Carly? Are you making sure she's getting along well with people? It's only her second week of school" she says._

"_Carly doesn't need any help getting along with people Mom, she gets along with every single person she ever meets, she, Rose, Jessie, Leigh and Eli have been glued together since school started so I think she's okay" I say._

"_Are you just refusing to join because of what people will say about you if you do?" Mom asks._

"_No! I couldn't give a flying fuck about what people say" I yell._

"_Language, Savannah" Mom says. I know she's truly angry with me when she calls me Savannah. No one ever calls me Savannah unless they are angry with me._

"_I'll say whatever the fuck I want to" I scream._

"_Savannah Carol Hudson, you do not talk to your mother like that! I want to know why you won't join the glee club, if it's not because you don't want to be seen as unpopular, then why is it?" she asks, her voice dangerously calm._

"_First of all, I'm co-captain of the Cheerios so no matter what I do, I could never be unpopular. Second of all, the reason I don't want to join Glee Club is because of you" I snap._

"_Because of me?" Mom asks, incredulously._

"_Yes because of you. It's embarrassing enough that I go to the same school where my dad is the Principal, let alone being in Glee Club where you're the teacher, then I'd have both of my parents working at the school I go to. But it's not just that, I don't want to have the inevitable comments about me getting solos because my mother is in charge, and I don't want to be like you. I have no intention of going to NYADA, and following in your footsteps" I yell._

"_I'm not saying you have to sweetie. I don't want you to be just like me, I just want you to join the Glee Club" she says._

"_Well I'm not going to, so just leave me the hell alone" I say turning to leave._

"_Savannah Hudson! Get back here now, we are not finished discussing this" Mom yells after me._

"_Yes we fucking are! I'm not joining and that's all there is to it" I say._

"_Why do you have to fight me on everything?" Mom screams, exasperated._

"_Because I don't want to do this! In addition to the other reasons I said, I'm already busy enough this year, I've got cheerleading, I'm head of the Prom Committee, and I'm in the running for Valedictorian when I graduate next year, so I need to keep my GPA up. I can't add anything else" I say._

"_You could do it if you wanted to" Mom replies._

"_But I don't want to! Why don't you ever listen to me?" I yell._

"_Because I'm your mother, I know what's best for you" she says._

"_No you don't! I'm not doing this and that's final" I say. _

"_Yes you are" a voice says. I turn around, surprised because it's not my mother's voice. My dad is standing behind my mother; I don't know how long he has been there because I didn't hear him come in._

"_Dad stay out of this. This is between me and mom" I say._

"_I have been staying out of this. I stayed out of this whilst you argued about it all last week but no more. You've been extremely rude to your mother and I won't have it. You will be joining the Glee Club and that is final, I'll be checking to make sure you showed up to your audition" Dad says._

"_But Dad…." I say, batting my eyelashes, the same way I always do when I want something._

"_No buts Savannah. My decision is final, you cannot speak to your mother like that and get away with it" he says._

"_I hate you both. You suck" I say. There's definitely no point arguing when my dad uses my full name, even when he's angry he still calls me Shay, he only uses my full name when he's furious._

"_You're not going to get out of this by being rude" Dad says._

"_Whatever, I'm going to school" I snap, turning towards the door._

""_Do you want me to give you a lift?" Dad asks._

"_I'll drive myself" I say, slamming the door behind me as I leave. I'll probably get extra punishment for being so rude to Dad, but I don't really care. I drive to school with music blaring from the speakers, the way I always do when I'm angry about something. I pull into the school parking lot. I check my appearance in the interior mirror of my car when I get out. I'm glad the new cheerleading coach didn't make wearing the uniform around school mandatory, although most of the girls still do because it's a status symbol like the guys' letterman jackets. Me, I don't need some stupid uniform for people to know that I'm popular. I exude popularity, people part in the hallways for me to walk through. It's fall, so I'm wearing my usual outfit of my grey infinity scarf, black crop top and high waisted black skinny jeans with black lace up boots. I take my black headband out and place it on my head, pushing my hair back slightly. Once I'm certain that I look absolutely perfect, I get out of the car and stride across the car park to the front steps of the school. Ruby and Kira are waiting for me there. _

"_Hey, Shay" they says._

"_Hey Rubes, Kira" I reply._

"_So how was your weekend?" I ask them._

"_The same as weekends in the Chang household always are, we studied. We've got to maintain our GPA if we want to get into college" Kira says._

"_Easy enough for you to say, you don't even have to study for tests and you still ace them" I say._

"_I'm not sure what you're talking about Miss "I'm in the running to be Valedictorian when we graduate next year" she says._

"_Fair point, but I'm pretty sure you're in the running too" I reply._

"_Please, studying is boring" Rubes says._

"_Boring but necessary. I need to get awesome grades to get on a decent psychology course next year, you need to get good grades to get into drama school and Kira will need good grades to get into a decent dance school" I say._

"_Can we not talk about college?" Rubes asks. "You never told us how your weekend was" _

"_It was awful, my mom and I fought basically the entire time" I say._

"_What about this time?" Kira asks._

"_She and Aunt Quinn are restarting the glee club and she wanted me to join. I told her that I wouldn't and we've been fighting about it ever since. Then my dad heard us arguing today, told me I was being rude to Mom and basically forced me to join Glee" I say._

"_Well is there anything so wrong with that?" Kira asks._

"_You're supposed to be on my side!" I snap._

"_I am always on your side Shay, but this doesn't sound like such a bad thing. You love to sing, and to be honest, it sounds kind of fun" Rubes says._

"_Fun? Are you kidding me?" I ask incredulously._

"_What's not fun about it?" she says._

"_The fact that my mother is in charge" I say, annoyed at having to state the obvious._

"_It's not just your mom though, Quinn will be co-director with her, so she might balance out some of her crazy and it's not like you're going to have to spend one on one time with your mother, you're going to be in a group and I'm sure if you don't want to, you won't even have to talk to your mom" she says._

"_You guys just don't get the severe humiliation of having two parents working at your high school!" I complain._

"_Maybe we don't, but a) it's not like your mom works full time here, she's just going to be helping with an extra-curricular, and b) your dad sounds like he's put his foot down on this, and we both know what that means since he barely ever does that to you, so you may as well just suck it up and take it" she says._

"_I guess. Hopefully after this year, he'll let me quit" I say._

"_Exactly, look on the bright side" Kira says._

"_Will you join with me?" I ask._

"_What?" Kira asks._

"_Since I have to join Glee, will you join with me? It will be far more fun if you guys are there, then I don't have to hang out with all the nerds and theatre geeks by myself" I say._

"_Sure I'll join" Rubes says._

"_And you Kira?" I ask._

"_I already said it sounded like fun didn't I?" Kira says, shrugging her shoulders._

"_You guys are the best" I say, giving each of them a hug. "What's your first lesson?" _

"_English" Rubes says._

"_Math" Kira replies._

"_Biology" I say, sighing. Even though we're all Juniors, we have different class schedules, and I'm barely ever in the same class as Kira or Rubes, yet another thing that sucks about my day. Rubes has to go the opposite direction to us for English, but Kira's math classroom is near the biology lab so we walk to our lessons together, chatting about the lessons we have today, our dance classes and my boyfriend. Kira doesn't have a boyfriend yet, neither does Rubes as far as I know, but they're both beautiful, smart girls and I'm sure they will soon. Kira's classroom is before mine, so I say goodbye to her at the door of her classroom and continue onto mine._

_After my morning lessons are over, I head to the auditorium for my Glee audition. I'm not sure why I have to audition, since Mom already knows I can sing, but she says since I insist I want to be treated like everyone else, I have to audition, and that Kennedy and Carly are auditioning too. My boyfriend is kind of pissed that I can't meet him at break, but what I can do? My dad is not going to let me off the hook on this one._

"_Hey Mom, Hey Aunt Quinn" I say, as I walk onto the stage in the auditorium._

"_You know since we're sort of your teachers now, you really should call us Mrs Hudson and Mrs Puckerman" Mom says._

"_Please Rachel, as if your kids are not going to call you Mom just because they're at school. They still call Finn Dad instead of Principal Hudson, and I know my kids are still going to call me Mom" Aunt Quinn says._

"_Fine. What will you be singing?" Mom asks._

"_Man, I Feel Like A Woman, Shania Twain" I say._

"_That's a great song, let's hear it" she says._

_I take my black headband off and shake out my hair, I don't usually but this feels right for the song._

**Shay:**

**Let's go girls! Come on**

**I'm going out tonight-I'm feelin' alright**

**Gonna let it all hang out**

**Wanna make some noise-really raise my voice**

**Yeah, I wanna scream and shout**

**No inhibitions-make no conditions**

**Get a little outta line**

**I ain't gonna act politically correct**

**I only wanna have a good time**

**The best thing about being a woman**

**Is the prerogative to have a little fun**

**Oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy-forget I'm a lady**

**Men's shirts-short skirts**

**Oh, oh, oh, really go wild-yeah, doin' it in style**

**Oh, oh, oh, get in the action-feel the attraction**

**Colour my hair-do what I dare**

**Oh, oh, oh, I wanna be free-yeah to feel the way I feel**

**Man! I feel like a woman!**

**The girls need a break-tonight we're gonna take**

**The chance to get out on the town**

**We don't need romance-we only wanna dance**

**We're gonna let our hair hang down**

**The best thing about being a woman**

**Is the prerogative to have a little fun**

**Oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy-forget I'm a lady**

**Men's shirts-short skirts**

**Oh, oh, oh, really go wild-yeah, doin' it in style**

**Oh, oh, oh, get in the action-feel the attraction**

**Colour my hair-do what I dare**

**Oh, oh, oh, I wanna be free-yeah, to feel the way I feel **

**Man! I feel like a woman!**

**The best thing about being a woman**

**Is the prerogative to have a little fun (fun, fun)**

**Oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy-forget I'm a lady**

**Men's shirts-short skirts**

**Oh, oh, oh, get in the action-feel the attraction**

**Colour my hair-do what I dare**

**Oh, oh, oh, I wanna be free-yeah, to feel the way I feel**

**Man! I feel like a woman!**

**I get totally crazy**

**Can you feel it**

**Come, come, come on baby**

**I feel like a woman**

_At the end of my song, I kick off my boots and do a triple back flip across the stage. It's quite impressive considering that I'm wearing jeans, which aren't exactly the most flexible of trousers._

"_Can you just tell me I'm in already? If I hurry I can still meet Danny for a few minutes before I have to go to my next class" I say._

"_Yes you're in Shay; the glee club meeting is on Friday at four. Don't be late" Mom says._

"_I won't. Bye Mom, bye Aunt Quinn" I say rushing off stage. I don't look where I'm going as I'm running through the hallway, and I collide with someone, sending us both and all of their books toppling to the floor._

"_Will you look where you're going?" the person says angrily, collecting up their books._

"_Sorry, I was in a rush and I didn't look where I was going" I say, reaching out to help pick up their books. We both stand up, and I finally look into the face of the person I knocked over. It's a guy, quite an attractive guy at that. He's very tall and tanned, with cropped short blonde hair and stormy grey eyes. _

"_Next time maybe you should" he says. He has an accent that I can't quite place. _

"_I told you I was sorry" I say._

"_Well I suppose I should thank you for helping me pick up my books" he says._

"_Yes, I suppose you should" I say._

"_Thank you" he says._

"_Not a problem" I say. He turns to walk away but I call after him._

"_What?" he asks._

"_It would be nice to get your name" I say._

"_Hayden Miller, and you?" he says._

"_Shay Hudson" I reply._

"_Hudson as in Principal Hudson?" he asks._

"_The very same, he's my father" I say._

"_Is your mother Rachel Hudson?" he asks._

"_Yeah, how did you know?" I ask._

"_Your dad forced me into the stupid glee club, he made me audition for her last week even though auditions only technically started today" he says._

"_Sorry about that, he forced me to join too" I say._

"_Oh boo hoo, you have two parents that love you, how sad" he says. I'm surprised at his sudden change in tone; he seemed okay until just now._

"_Why so mean all of a sudden? We were just having a conversation" I say, perplexed because it seemed as if we were having a pleasant conversation. _

"_I know girls like you. Girls who think their lives are so hard because they are forced to do something they don't want to once in a while. You have no idea what hard is. My parents got divorced when I was three, they hate each other and they hate me. At the first opportunity they shipped me off to my aunt's house, but then I got into trouble so I got shipped off to boarding school, so of course I got into trouble there and now I'm living with my older brother and his wife, who are just looking for a reason to kick me out of their house as well, but after that I'll have nowhere to go because there is no more family left that can stand me" he says._

"_I'm sorry, I didn't know" I say._

"_Yeah well now you do" he mutters. "Not like you care anyway"_

"_Why wouldn't I care?" I ask._

"_Because you're a pretty popular girl who only cares about herself" he says._

"_You don't know me so you can't make snap judgements about me. I care about a lot of people, I care about my friends and I care about my family, and I care about my boyfriend" I say._

"_Fine maybe I did make a snap judgement about you, but I'm sure you made a snap judgement about me when you first saw me" he says._

"_Actually I didn't. Silly me, I thought you actually might be a nice guy but it turns out you're just another ass" I say._

"_And you're a stuck up selfish bitch" he says._

"_You don't know anything about me. I made a judgement based on your behaviour towards me, you just decided that I'm a bitch and you don't even know me. You don't know anything about me or my family" I say._

"_I wouldn't want to. You're just another stuck up, entitled rich kid who I would have no interest in knowing" he says._

"_Well I have no interest in knowing a jack ass like you either" I say, though really I just want him to like me. I want everyone to like me. I'm sure he's probably just acting like he doesn't like me as part of his whole "bad boy persona" that he seems to have going on. Two can play at that game. If he wants to pretend like he can't stand me, then I'll do the exact same thing._

"_Fine" he says, taking a step towards me and invading my personal space._

"_Fine" I say, closing the gap between us. Our noses are almost touching and we're so close I can feel his breath on my face. In that moment, I feel as if I'm going to kiss him, and one look into his eyes tells me that he feels the same. We lean in towards each other, but just as we are about to kiss, we are interrupted by Danny. I can't decide whether I'm annoyed or relieved. _

"_Hey, Babe. I was waiting for you in the cafeteria but you never showed up and I got worried" he says, giving me a quick peck on the cheek._

"_Sorry, I bumped into Hayden here and caused him to drop all his books, so I was helping him" I say, trying to hide the embarrassed flush of my cheeks from almost kissing Hayden._

"_Hayden?" he asks._

"_Miller, Hayden Miller. It's true, she ran into me and she was helping me pick up my books and we were just talking" he says._

"_I don't doubt it" Danny says, narrowing his eyes at him. "I haven't seen you around before" he states._

"_That would be because I just moved here over the summer" he says._

"_Where from?" Danny asks._

"_Virginia, I was at boarding school there" he says._

"_Why did you move up here?" Danny asks._

"_Let's just say I got tired of them and they got tired of me. Now I live with my brother and his wife" he says._

"_And you're a junior too?" Danny asks._

"_Yes, I am" he says._

"_Where are you from? You don't sound American" he asks._

"_I'm not, I'm from Auckland" Hayden says._

"_You're a Kiwi? I thought Aussie" he says._

"_A common mistake to make" Hayden says, with a look that could kill._

"_Are you a Junior too?" he asks._

"_I am" Hayden says._

"_Then I guess we'll be seeing you around then" he says._

"_Yes, I guess you will. Goodbye Shay, Shay's boyfriend" he says, before turning and walking in the other direction._

"_What a jerk" Danny says to me. I barely hear what he says to me, I'm staring after Hayden._

"_Shay? Did you hear what I said?" he asks._

"_I don't think he's all that bad" I say._

"_We clearly didn't just meet the same person" he says._

"_Maybe we didn't" I say. Checking my watch, I realise that I'm late to my next class. "Shit, I'm late, I've got to go" I say._

"_Well let me walk with you" he says. _

"_You can't, your class is all the way on the other side of the school and there's no sense on you being even later because you walked with me" I say._

"_Okay then, so I'll meet you on the steps after school?" he asks._

"_Sure. I love you" I say, kissing him._

"_Love you too" he says. I run off in the other direction to grab my books from my locker and then head to my class. It's wrong of me, but all I can think about for the rest of the day is Hayden, and how much I wish that Danny hadn't interrupted us before we had the chance to kiss._

**Kennedy's POV**

"**Kennedy, come on! You're going to be late for school if you don't hurry up" Mom calls upstairs.**

"**Coming" I yell, even though I'm nowhere near ready, in fact I'm still in my PJ's. I woke up really early this morning but I lost track of time whilst I was designing. I have to get up early in the morning or go to bed really late at night if I want to be able to draw because my mom and dad still don't know that I like to draw, well more specifically, I like to design clothes. I'm never going to be able to pursue it though because my mom wants me to go to NYADA and become a famous Broadway actress just like she was. Sometimes I wish I was more like Shay and could just tell my mom that I don't want to be her. I suppose Carly and I have the same problem in that respect, she doesn't want to be on Broadway either, but she won't tell our mom. I'm not really worried about what Dad would say if I told him I wanted to be a designer, not an actress, I know he would support me but I'm not sure about my mom. She's wanted this for me my entire life, and I think it's probably too late now to tell her that I don't want it anymore. The truth is that I haven't wanted this for a long time, about five years now I've known that I didn't want that life. I have sketchbooks with five years' worth of designs that I'll never be able to make because I can't tell my mother that I don't want her life. I can't get material to make my outfits because otherwise my mom would get suspicious, but I'm certain that I'm good at this. Much better than I am at singing, that's for sure.**

**It's not that I'm bad at singing, I'm a good singer, a great singer even but I'm not passionate about it anymore, it's too much stress and pressure on me to be exactly like my mother and I don't want that. I want to be my own person, but I've spent so much time being exactly who my mother wants me to be that I don't know how to do that.**

"**KENNEDY CAROL HUDSON, get your butt downstairs right now" she yells.**

"**Okay, okay, I really am coming now" I call. I lift up the loose floorboard under my bed and stash my sketchbook with all the other ones. I don't exactly have time to make a considered decision about what I'm going to wear today, so I just grab a couple of things out of my wardrobe, coming out with my denim and chiffon dress (the top half is a denim shirt, the bottom half is a chiffon skirt), my grey leggings, my grey legwarmers, my grey suede boots with the fur inside, my grey beanie with the white bobble on top and my blue snood. I quickly throw all of this on, before running downstairs.**

"**Took you long enough. What were you doing up there?" Mom asks.**

"**It takes a long time to look this good" I say, smiling.**

"**You're still going to audition for Glee Club aren't you?" she asks.**

"**Yes" I say.**

"**Good it will look great on your transcript for NYADA" she says.**

"**If I do this, will you lay off all the extra vocal classes, dance and acting rehearsals?" I ask.**

"**No, being in Glee will make your application even stronger, we don't want to stop with all of your extra classes it will put your application over the top" she says. I would argue but there's no point. Once my mother has set her mind to something, she's extremely unlikely to change it.**

"**I'm already in the drama club, captain of the volleyball team, captain of the debate team and Junior class president, is that not enough to make my application better than everyone else's?" I ask, sighing.**

"**No, we have to do everything possible to make you stand out in every way. This is a top school and all the kids applying are going to have tons of extra-curriculars and amazing voices, so we just need to make sure that you are better than all of them, and you know what they say, practice makes perfect" she says.**

"**Yes, I know Mom" I say, sighing.**

"**You can never get what you want if you don't work hard" she says.**

"**I know that too" I say, not mentioning that I don't think NYADA is what I want anymore. **

"**I'm going to be so proud of you when you get into NYADA" she says, hugging me. It makes me feel so bad, that she believes in me so much and I don't even want this.**

"**Thanks Mom. I really should get going though" I say.**

"**Okay sweetie, I'll see you after school for your glee audition" she says.**

"**Yeah, see you then" I say. I walk out to my car, a 2013 Black Nissan Rouge. It's kind of an old car I guess, but my mom and Dad didn't want to spend a lot of money on cars for me and Shay, and then Carly when she can drive, so they bought both me and Shay second hand cars. I don't mind though, I love my car.**

**As I am driving to school, I spot Jonah walking along from his house. I pull over to the side of the road, and he stops walking when he sees me. **

"**You want a ride?" I ask.**

"**Do you even need to ask?" he says, opening the door and jumping into the car. "I wish my parents would just buy me a car already, they're getting Ray one to learn on when she gets her learners permit. I have my full license and they won't let me drive anything, not even their car" **

"**Do you blame them? You took their car for a joyride when we were thirteen, with me in it by the way, then you crashed it, breaking my arm and your leg in the process" I say.**

"**You have to admit that was fun" he says.**

"**It was fun until you crashed the car and I broke my arm. My parents grounded me for weeks after that, even though it was you who crashed the car because I went with you" I say.**

"**Okay so maybe I see why they won't get me a car" he admits.**

"**I can always come and pick you up on the way to school if you want me to. You don't have to walk everyday" I say.**

"**I don't mind it in the summer, it's just when it gets cold in the autumn and winter that it kind of sucks" he says.**

"**Well you know I'm always willing to give you a ride if you want one" I say.**

"**I know, thanks Kennedy" he says. **

"**How was your weekend?" I ask.**

"**I went to one of my dad's shows, that was great, but then I went out with a couple of friends and our fake ID's and we got drunk, and we may have got into a bar fight and I may have got grounded for the next two weeks" he says.**

"**So pretty much a typical weekend at the Evans household" I say, laughing a little.**

"**Pretty much. How about you?" he asks.**

"**The same really, I had hours of vocal practice, dance practice, acting classes and then just when I was about to drop dead, I had hours of homework to do, plus an extra cheer practice, and volleyball practice on Sunday" I say.**

"**Why do you not just tell your mom that you don't want to apply to NYADA and you want to stop with all these extra classes? You should just show her your sketchbook and then she'd see just how incredibly talented you are at designing and that's your real calling, not Broadway" he says.**

"**It's not that simple, I can't tell my mom and everyone else that I've been lying for the last five years about what I want to do with my life, they'll hate me" I say.**

"**Your parents will hate you more if they have to shell out thousands of dollars for a University that you don't want to go to, if you tell them now then you could apply to some of the top fashion schools. I know you'd love to go to somewhere like Parsons or FIT" he says.**

"**I'd love to, but it's never going to happen" I say.**

"**It could, and you know it" he says.**

"**Fine, I will consider telling them" I say.**

"**That's all I'm asking" he replies.**

"**What about you? Have you thought about college application plans?" I ask.**

"**I want to be a music producer, but I'm not really sure where I go to do that" he says.**

"**Maybe you should do some research" I say.**

"**Yeah, maybe I will" he replies. I pull into the school parking lot and park in my usual space. Jonah and I walk into school together, talking about our plans to sneak him out of the house so that we can go out whilst he's grounded. I'm not a huge drinker but I do like to get out every once in a while, it's nice to be able to do something that isn't practicing singing, dancing or acting at all hours of the day.**

**We reach our lockers, which are right next to each other, pick up our books and start walking to class. Jonah has History and I have English, luckily our classrooms are quite close to each other, so we can talk on the way to class.**

"**So did you hear that Mom is starting up glee club again?" I say.**

"**I heard, I don't think I'll join though" he says.**

"**Why not? I need you there with me; it won't be as fun without my best friend" I say.**

"**I'm sure you'll be fine. Your sisters will join right? I'm sure Rose probably will too, you like her" he says.**

"**But I want you to join as well, you're my best friend and it would be fun to do this together. Besides Mom's worried that not enough boys are going to sign up" I say.**

"**How come you're joining Glee Club anyway? Was it your idea or your mother's? I wouldn't have thought you'd want to take on any more extra-curriculars, you already do so many" he says.**

"**It was my idea. I was hoping that with joining Glee Club, my mom might cut down on the extra vocal and dancing practice so that I could actually have some free time, but of course she shot down that idea right away" I say.**

"**You know what would make this problem go away?" he asks.**

"**Please do not say telling my mother that I want to throw all her dreams of me going to NYADA in the garbage and that I want to go to fashion school instead" I say.**

"**You said it, not me. Oops here's my classroom, better go now" he says as we arrive at his history classroom. I grab his sleeve before he goes in.**

"**Not a word of this to anyone, especially not my mother" I say.**

"**I've kept your secret for five years, I can keep it a little longer" he says, winking. **

"**See you later Jo-Jo" I say, using my pet name for him from when we were kids.**

"**See you later Ken" he says, responding in the exact same way. I walk alone to my class, thinking about what Jonah said. Deep down, I know it would be easier to tell my mother that I didn't want to go to NYADA and that I want to be a designer instead, but I just hate to disappoint her. **

**I go to my glee club audition after school. It's not like I really need to show my mom or Quinn that I can sing, but it's just part of the process, since everyone has to audition, and Mom can't be seen to be giving us special treatment. Not that I'd want her to anyway, it's hard enough being the daughter of the principal, I don't need everyone in Glee thinking that I only got in because my mom's one of the directors. **

"**Hi Mom, Hi Aunt Quinn" I say as I walk out onto the stage in the auditorium. **

"**Hi sweetheart. Have you seen Carly today? Did she look okay?" Mom asks, sounding worried.**

"**Mom, Carly's fine. She was hanging out with Jessie and Eli the last time I saw her. You don't need to worry about her, Shay and I are looking out for her" I say.**

"**You'd better be" she replies.**

"**What will you be singing Kennedy?" Aunt Quinn asks.**

"**Cannonball, the Little Mix version" I say. "I'd like to accompany myself on the piano, if that's okay" **

"**That's fine" Mom says, waving the guy who usually plays the piano off. I take a seat behind the piano.**

"**Whenever you're ready" Quinn says. I tuck my hair behind my ears, before starting to play and sing.**

_Kennedy:_

_There's still a little bit of your taste in my mouth_

_There's still a little of you laced with my doubt_

_It's still a little hard to say what's going on_

_There's a still a little bit of your ghost, your witness_

_There's still a little bit of your face I haven't kissed_

_You step a little closer each day that I can say what's going on_

_Stones taught me to fly_

_Love taught me to lie_

_Life taught me to die_

_So it's not hard to fall_

_When you float like a cannonball_

_There's still a little bit of your song in my ear_

_There's still a little bit of your words I long to hear_

_You step a little closer to me_

_So close I can't see what's going on_

_Whoa_

_Stones taught me to fly_

_Love taught me to lie_

_So come on courage_

_Teach me to be shy_

_Cause it's not hard to fall_

_When you know that you just don't know_

_Stones taught me to fly_

_Love taught me to lie_

_So come on courage _

_Teach me to be shy_

_Cause it's not hard to fall_

_When you float like a cannonball_

_Stones taught me to fly_

_Love taught me to lie_

_So come on courage_

_Teach me to be shy_

_Cause it's not hard to fall_

_And I don't want to scare him_

_It's not hard to fall_

_And I don't wanna lose_

_It's not hard to fall_

_When you float like a cannonball_

**I stand up from the piano when I finish the song and walk back to the centre of the stage. **

"**That was really beautiful Kennedy" Aunt Quinn says.**

"**Thank you" I say.**

"**Was it for anyone in particular?" Mom asks. It's a strange question for her to ask since she knows I haven't seen anyone since I started high school. **

"**No, who would it be for?" I ask.**

"**Jonah, maybe?" she suggests.**

"**Jonah? He's my best friend Mom, but I don't have any feelings for him" I say.**

"**I think you're in denial" she says.**

"**I am not! It would be so weird if I went out with him, it would be like dating my brother, if I had a brother" I say.**

"**Say what you like, but I've seen the way he looks at you. He likes you and I think you like him too" she says.**

"**Can we talk about this at home? You know when Aunt Quinn isn't around" I say.**

"**Fine. You're in by the way" she says.**

"**As if there was ever any doubt" I mutter, walking away before either of them have the chance to say anything else.**

"**First practice is on Friday at four in the choir room" Quinn calls after me. When I walk off stage I see that Jonah is waiting for me. I feel kind of embarrassed that he's here waiting for me, because he probably overheard the conversation that I had with my mom. There's no point beating around the bush about it, I just have to ask him.**

"**Did you overhear…..." I ask, but he interrupts me.**

"**Your conversation with your mom? Yes, I've been here for your entire audition" he says. "So you don't think we could ever work?" **

"**You're my best friend; I wouldn't want to ruin that. Besides, you don't feel anything for me either do you? I mean in more than a friends way" I say.**

**He doesn't answer. Does he really like me? That would be ridiculous, he's Jonah and he's never shown any interest in me. He parades around hordes of girls literally every other week, so if he does have feelings for me then he does a mighty good job of hiding it. At first I thought it was all in my mom's head but now I'm not so sure.**

"**I have a plan" Jonah says.**

"**A plan for what?" I ask.**

"**For telling your parents about your fashion dreams" he says.**

"**I haven't decided if I am going to tell them yet" I say.**

"**You and I both know that you are eventually, so are you going to listen to my plan or not?" he says.**

"**I hate that you know me so well" I say.**

"**We have been friends since we were four, and I think you know me just as well" he says.**

"**So what's the plan?" I ask.**

"**You make some of your designs, so that when you tell them about wanting to go to fashion school, they can see how amazing you are and they'll support your dreams" he says.**

"**That would be amazing if that were to happen, but there's one problem with that. I can't make my outfits at home, my parents would find out" I say.**

"**Then do it at my house" he says.**

"**Won't your mom tell my mom?" I ask.**

"**I'll tell her it's a secret. Come on Kennedy, you know it's a good idea" he says.**

"**I would love to see what my designs actually look like" I admit.**

"**Of course you would, because they're going to look amazing" he says.**

"**Thank you Jonah, you truly are the most amazing friend" I say, giving him a hug.**

"**You're welcome" he says. I swear I see a slightly wistful look in his eye. My mom wasn't right was she? I shake the thought out of my head, this is my friend Jonah, and it's not possible that he likes me.**

"**How about a drink at the shake shack?" I ask.**

"**Sounds good" he says, and we head out to my car together.**

**Rose's POV**

"**Rose, breakfast!" my mom calls upstairs. **

"**I'm coming" I call back. I grab the crutches from the side of my bed; I broke my ankle rollerblading this summer. I hobble over to my wardrobe and look through my clothes, deciding what I should wear. I pick out my favourite pink t-shirt which says "Be Awesome" on the front of it, my pink lace crochet skirt, and a pair of tights. I can't fit a shoe on my left foot due to my broken ankle so I just wear one pink converse. It's lucky my cast is pink; otherwise it would clash horribly with my outfit. **

**I'm pretty fast on crutches by now, I've broken at least one bone every summer since I've turned three, and all the doctors in A&amp;E know me by name. I hobble into the kitchen and sit down at the table with Ginny and Shannon. Dad's already at work since the team have an early practice this morning.**

"**Morning Rose" Mom says.**

"**Morning" I say. I'm slightly surprised that everyone's having breakfast together this morning; we usually just get our own breakfast, at different times in the morning depending on when we wake up. "Is there a reason why we're all eating together this morning?" I ask.**

"**Yes there is, I wanted to talk to all of you about joining Glee Club" Mom says.**

"**I'll join" I say.**

"**Me too" says Ginny.**

"**Yeah, I'll join" Shan says.**

"**All of you? That easily?" Mom asks. **

"**Why wouldn't we? We all love singing and you always say Glee Club was so much fun when you were in high school, so why not?" I say.**

"**Well thank you guys. If you could talk to your friends about it, stir up interest, then that would be great" Mom says.**

"**I definitely will, I'm sure Jessie, Leigh and Eli would all want to join" I say.**

"**Sierra would probably want to" Ginny says quietly.**

"**So would Lexi" Shannon says.**

"**Great, well I hope to see all of you and your friends at auditions either today or tomorrow" Quinn says. **

**Breakfast in our house is usually a pretty quiet affair, aside from me. Ginny and Shan don't talk about anything, so it's usually just me and my Mom talking and really that's mostly me, since I talk enough for all four of us. It's not strange that Shan and I are very different, since Shan's not my biological sister, but Ginny and I? You would think being twins that we'd be a lot closer than we are, but we just never have been. We're two totally different people, I'm outgoing and talkative and she's extremely quiet. **

**Usually I would drive everyone to school, but because of my broken ankle I can't drive for a while so Mom drives us. Well she drives me and Shan, Ginny takes her bike to school. Ginny doesn't really like being around anyone, even us, she just prefers being by herself.**

**When Mom drops us off at school, we both go our separate ways. Shan heads straight to the library, as she always does when she goes to school. Me, on the other hand I head to the canteen. The canteen is like the hub of social activity at school, and I always like to be in the middle of whatever social activity is happening. I scour the room to find my group of friends, Leigh Puckerman, Jessie Abrams, Carly Hudson and Eli Schuester, all standing in one corner of the canteen chatting. I walk over to join them.**

"**Hey everybody" I say.**

"**Hi" they reply turning to face me. We make quite a strange group of friends, considering that Carly and Eli are only freshmen, Jessie's a sophomore and both me and Leigh are juniors, but Leigh and I are cousins and we've been really good friends ever since we were little kids, and Jessie, Carly and Eli just naturally fitted in with us.**

"**Hey Bella, I'm still allowed to stroke her right?" I ask, turning to Eli.**

"**Yes, Rose you're still allowed to stroke her" he says, laughing a little. I gently fondle Bella's ears and she gives me a kiss on the cheek, making me laugh. **

"**She likes you" Eli says.**

"**Of course she does, everybody does" I say shrugging. I'm not vain or anything, it's perfectly true. Everyone really does like me, and if they don't then I make them like me over time. If there's one thing I can't stand, its people not liking me, and I think that transfers over to dogs too. **

"**How was your weekend?" Eli asks me.**

"**The same as usual really, Mom and I went shopping and I went to one of dad's training sessions with the Browns. How about you?" I ask.**

"**Mom's been driving me crazy! She keeps saying that I should transfer to the school for the disabled that Jessie's mom works at, but I don't want to. She doesn't understand that I just want to be normal and I don't want to go to a special school" he says.**

"**I'm sure your mom won't make you do anything you don't want to do" I say.**

"**Oh but she will. The first thing that goes wrong and I'll be straight into that school. No offence to your mom's school Jessie" he says.**

"**None taken, it's not for everyone. We're looking out for you Eli, nothing's going to happen to you" Jessie says.**

"**Thanks guys. I don't see what she's being so paranoid about, this is my second week of school and nothing's happened to me yet" he says.**

"**She's probably just worried about you" I say.**

"**Well she doesn't need to be, I'm fine, I have Bella now" he says. "I just don't want to go back to a special school. I went to a school for the blind when I was younger and it was fine, but I much prefer being at school here" **

"**Well we'll just have to make sure you stay here won't we? Other than that, was your weekend okay?" I ask.**

"**Yeah, I didn't really do all that much either, I was just working and reading" he says. He reaches for his pocket and brings out a bag of Doritos. Eli is such a sugar addict, he's always eating chocolate or crisps or cookies and yet he doesn't seem to gain any weight. I'm kind of envious, because I'm slightly insecure about my own weight. **

"**What about you Carly?" I ask.**

"**I've made some great new mixes, if you want to hear them, I mean you don't have to" she says.**

"**No I'd love to listen to them" I say.**

"**I downloaded a couple onto my phone, I'll give them to you later" she says.**

"**That's great. You know your mixes are really good, I don't see why you don't tell anyone about it" I say.**

"**Because my mom wants me to be just like her, and I hate to disappoint her. Besides you guys are the only people I've ever showed my stuff to. I mean Kennedy knows but she only knows because she guessed the password" she says.**

"**Maybe you should just rip off the band aid and tell her. I mean isn't Kennedy going to be just like your mom anyway? Isn't that enough for her?" I say.**

"**You would think" Carly says sighing.**

"**How about you Jessie?" Carly asks her, turning the conversation away from herself. She's not usually so evasive about things, but her keeping her mixes a secret from her parents is a kind of touchy subject.**

"**Oh I had a driving lesson, my first one" she says.**

"**When do you turn 16?" I ask.**

"**February" she says.**

"**How did you do? I'm surprised you're even learning to drive after what happened to you as a kid" I say.**

"**I did fine; my accident isn't going to stop me from learning to drive. It wasn't my fault, it was the driver of that stupid Corolla who didn't see me in time" she says.**

"**I know that, I was just saying it would be understandable if you were scared of cars after your accident" I say.**

"**Well I'm not, okay!" she snaps. I'm a little taken aback because she's not usually so defensive.**

"**I didn't mean to snap at you, I'm sorry" she says immediately apologising.**

"**It's okay, I should have known not to bring it up" I say.**

"**It's fine, I don't mind talking about it. It was years ago, and I'm over it" she says. I don't mention that her reaction a few moments ago suggests that she's anything but over it.**

"**How about you Leigh?" I ask, changing the subject so Jessie doesn't get too embarrassed about her mini outburst.**

"**I'm supposed to have another skin graft but I really don't want to" she says.**

"**Is it going to do anything to help?" I ask. **

"**I don't know, all I know is that it means I have to go into hospital once again, which I hate, have another surgery which I hate and be stuck with more needles which I also hate" she says.**

"**I'm sorry Leigh" I say.**

"**I don't want more scars, I already feel like enough of a freak as it is" I say.**

"**Do you have to have the surgery?" Carly asks.**

"**Well, they won't make me have it if I don't want to, but I can tell my parents really want me to. My mom just feels really bad because she thinks it was her fault that I have all these burns" she says.**

"**It might not be so bad" I say.**

"**Oh I know it will be; I hate hospitals, I always feel like I'm going to pass out whenever I go into one of them" she says.**

"**Maybe you should talk to your parents about it, tell them how you feel" I suggest.**

"**Maybe" she says, although she looks a little unsure. Until the bell goes, we talk about our respective weekends more, and the classes that we have that week. We then split off, Eli and Carly walk to their class together, and Leigh, Jessie and I walk to our respective classrooms. I don't really have much to add to the conversation since Jessie and Leigh are both dancers and they are talking about an upcoming grading exam that they are both taking in ballet. It's not that I don't appreciate dance, it's just that I can't do it myself. I tried taking ballet lessons when I was younger and ended up spraining my ankle 5 times in the course of 3 months. Jessie stops at her classroom first and waves goodbye to us, and then it is just me and Leigh walking to our English lesson. **

"**So are you thinking of joining glee club?" I ask.**

"**Do you think my mom would forgive me if I didn't?" she says, laughing.**

"**No I guess not. I'm glad you're going to though, we can do duets together" I say.**

"**Well our Christmas duet is legendary, it would be a shame to waste all that potential" she says, smiling.**

"**You might be able to meet a boy there as well. You're always going on about how much you want to have a boyfriend" I say.**

"**Yeah, maybe" she says, sounding slightly evasive about that. Does she have a boyfriend that I don't know about it? No, she would never do that, we tell each other everything.**

"**How about you? Any boys you like?" she asks, avoiding the questions. She's definitely hiding something and I'm going to find out what it is.**

"**Even if there was it's not like they'd ever go out with me" I say.**

"**Why not?" she asks.**

"**Because I act like a total idiot around boys. I'm not lost for words often….." I say, but Leigh interrupts me.**

"**You can say that again" she says, laughing a little and I smack her gently for interrupting.**

"**But when I'm around boys, I turn into an absolute stuttering mess and it turns them all off me" I say.**

"**One day you'll find a boy who'll think that your inability to form coherent sentences around him is adorable" she replies.**

"**You really think so?" I ask.**

"**I really do" she says.**

"**But I'm not exactly…..pretty. Not in the way that you are" I say.**

"**Of course you're not pretty in the way I am, you're pretty in the way you are and you should never doubt that Rose. Any guy would be an idiot not to love you" she says.**

"**You really are the best cousin ever, have I ever told you that?" I say.**

"**You have, but I wouldn't mind hearing it a few more times" she says, smirking which makes me laugh again. We arrive at our English class and take our seats, we sit next to each other, and Kennedy is on the other side of me, with Ruby in the row in front.**

**I walk over to the auditorium at lunchtime for my Glee Club audition. Mom of course already knows that I can sing, but everyone else has to audition so she said that we had to as well. To be honest, all of the glee clubbers children have performed in front of Mom and Aunt Rachel, so they know we can all sing; the auditions are really just a formality for us. **

"**Hi Mom, Aunt Rachel" I say when I walk onto the stage in the auditorium.**

"**Hi sweetie, have you had a good day so far?" Mom asks.**

"**It's been fine; I've been hanging out with Leigh for most of the day" I say.**

"**Have you seen either of your sisters?" she asks.**

"**I had Math with Ginny earlier, she seemed fine, but we didn't talk. I haven't seen Shannon all day, but that's no surprise, whenever she's not in class she's in the library, and I don't exactly frequent the library on a regular basis" I say.**

"**Maybe you should, you could get more studying done" she says.**

"**Nah, I hate the library, it's far too quiet" I say, making my mom and Aunt Rachel laugh.**

"**What will you be singing Rose?" Mom asks me.**

"**About The Boy, by Little Mix" I say.**

"**Well start whenever you're ready" she says.**

**I start the song on my own, with no accompaniment.**

_Rose:_

_Something about_

_Something about the boy_

_Something about _

_Something about the boy_

_Something about_

_Something about the boy_

_Just something about the boy_

_(I then signal to the piano guy to start playing)_

_It's the verse in my head_

_The words that make me stutter_

_The swag in my step_

_The change from grey to colour_

_A guaranteed bet_

_Oh, I found my lucky number_

_The feeling that you get_

_Can't help but make me wonder_

_No need to try_

_He's just right_

_He's got that something_

_I can't let nobody tell me no_

_No I don't mind_

_Takes me high_

_I won't stop until the boy is mine_

_He got me good_

_I got it bad_

_He got me feeling like a girl gone mad_

_Got me running around like I'm a lovefool_

_Taking me down I can't stop_

_He got me up_

_I can't come down_

_He got me locked and I don't want out_

_I know he's playing my heart and I ain't got no choice_

_There's just something about the boy_

_Something about_

_Something about the boy_

_Something about_

_Something about the boy_

_Something about_

_Something about the boy_

_Something about_

_Something about the boy_

_There's just something about the boy_

_It's the first time we met_

_The lightning to my thunder_

_The green light on red_

_The kiss that pulls me under_

_It's only for me_

_If you're the test I got the answer_

_And I'm all you need_

_Now you finally get the chance to_

_No need to try_

_He's just right_

_He got that something_

_I can't let nobody tell me no_

_No I don't mind_

_Takes me high_

_I won't stop until the boy is mine_

_He got me good_

_I've got it bad_

_He got me feeling like a girl gone mad_

_Got me running around like I'm a lovefool_

_Taking me down I can't stop_

_He got me up_

_I can't come down_

_He got me locked and I don't want out_

_I know he's playing my heart and I ain't got no choice_

_There's just something about the boy_

_Something about_

_Something about the boy_

_Something about_

_Something about the boy_

_Something about_

_Something about the boy_

_There's just something about the boy_

_I know you like to play it slow_

_But I'm running out of time_

_It's like I lost my self control_

_Cause you are the one_

_And you know what you've done_

_My poor heart's come undone_

_Baby please_

_He got me good_

_I've got it bad_

_He got me feeling like a girl gone mad_

_Got me running around like I'm a lovefool_

_Taking me down I can't stop_

_He got me up_

_I can't come down_

_He got me locked and I don't want out_

_I know he's playing my heart and I ain't got no choice_

_There's just something about the boy_

_Something about_

_Something about the boy_

_Something about_

_Something about the boy_

_Something about_

_Something about the boy_

_Just something about the boy_

"**So what did you think?" I ask when I finish the song. **

"**It was great sweetie, you're in. We'll see you at the first glee rehearsal on Friday at 4" Mom says.**

"**Thanks Mom" I say smiling. **

"**Do you know if I should expect to see Ginny or Shannon today?" she asks me.**

"**I don't, like I said I haven't seen them at all today" I say.**

"**Okay, well then I'll see you in Drama Club later" Mom says. Some people might think it's weird to get taught by your mother, but my mom was a great actress and she's a great teacher, besides being a really cool Mom. Plus, I want to be an actress and there's no better way to learn about acting than from a former actress.**

"**See you later" I say. "Bye Aunt Rachel"**

"**Bye Rose" she replies, and after that I walk off stage and out of the auditorium into the hallway. As I'm putting my books into my locker, I notice a boy I haven't seen before in one of the lockers at the end of the line. He's incredibly cute, but of course I can't go over and talk to him because I'll screw everything up like I always do, so I simply take the books I need for my next lesson out and shut the door before walking away.**

"**Hey" I hear a voice call from behind me. I turn and see the boy that I had just noticed running up behind me. **

"**H-h-hi" I say, feeling my face turn bright red. Why do I have to do this every single time a cute boy talks to me? If I could actually form coherent sentences around boys then I might actually have a boyfriend by now.**

"**You're Rose Puckerman, right? Mrs Puckerman's daughter?" he says.**

"**That's me. Who are you?" I say.**

"**Henry Alexander, I'm on an exchange programme from England" he says.**

"**How old are you?" I ask, hiding my face with my hair so he won't see how hard I'm blushing, although he probably already has.**

"**I'm almost 16, I'll be 16 in October" he says. **

"**So you're a sophomore?" I ask.**

"**If that's what you guys call it, I don't really understand how the American school system works yet" he says.**

"**Where are you staying?" I ask.**

"**Oh I'm staying with a girl called Charlotte Jenkins and her family" he says.**

"**Oh I know where they live, you literally live just round the corner from me" I say.**

"**What a happy coincidence" he says, smiling from ear to ear.**

"**Isn't it just?" I say. I can't believe that I'm actually talking to a cute guy; I've almost always turned into a mute by this point in the conversation normally.**

"**Maybe you could come round sometime and see me" he says.**

"**M-m-maybe" I say, starting to feel a little nervous again.**

"**I tell you what, how about we exchange numbers and you could call me sometime, or I could call you and we could arrange to meet up?" he says.**

"**Okay" I say, slightly dreamily. He's just so unbelievably cute, tall, quite pale, brown curly hair and big brown almond shaped eyes that I could just stare at all day.**

"**Rose?" he says, breaking me out of my slight daydream. I look down and realise he's handed me his phone. I reach into my pocket and pass mine over. We both type in our respective numbers and hand the phones back over.**

"**I look forward to seeing you around Rose Puckerman" he says.**

"**Uh-huh" I say awkwardly. He laughs a little, but good naturedly at my slightly dumb reaction and then walks away. I stand there for a while, just staring after him as he walks away.**

"**You've got no chance" a voice says from behind me.**

"**What?" I ask, turning to face Viola Barnes, one of the meanest cheerios on the squad.**

"**That guy? He's way out of your league" she says.**

"**He seemed to like me" I say.**

"**He probably just feels sorry for you. You were pretty awkward and desperate" she says.**

"**He didn't seem to mind" I say.**

"**You're his charity case" she replies.**

"**Charity case? How exactly?" I ask.**

"**Well he's hot and you….." she says.**

"**I'm what?" I ask.**

"**You're just not. You're so fat you'd probably squish him if you ever had sex, and let's face it, no hot guy wants to date a porker like you" she says.**

"**I'm perfectly comfortable in my body" I say.**

"**That's the biggest lie that fat people tell themselves. A guy like that will never end up with a girl like you. They end up with girls like me" she says, flicking her hair.**

"**Why do you like him?" I ask.**

"**No, I was just giving you a reality check" she says.**

"**No one would ever want to date a bitch like you" I reply.**

"**That's where you're wrong; all guys would prefer to date a bitch like me than a cow like you. Bitches are far hotter than cows" she says, stalking off so that she gets the last word in.**

**I walk into the bathroom and take a look in the mirror. Maybe she's right, maybe I am fat. **

"**No Rose, you can't let what she says get to you. You are a smart, attractive, confident woman and you don't need to lose weight" I tell myself. But even I know when I'm lying to myself. I know I'm not as thin or as pretty as other girls but it hurts to be reminded of it.**

**Tears start rolling down my cheeks, and when I look back in the mirror, to me it looks as if I've expanded until my entire face is so fat that it fills the whole mirror.**

**Yes, it hurts to be reminded.**

_Remy's POV_

"_Remy Reagan Lynn, you are going to be late for school and more importantly I am going to be late for work if you don't drag your ass out of bed and get downstairs right now!" my mom calls upstairs. She's been doing this for the last half hour, which is about the same amount of time that I've been turning the alarm on my phone off. We do this every morning, she calls upstairs for me and I ignore her for as long as humanly possible because I hate getting up. Usually she stops shouting and I get up, but today I hear her footsteps coming up the stairs._

_She bursts into my room, yelling directly into my ear. "Get up! Get up! Get up!"_

"_No" I murmur burying my head under my pillow. _

"_Okay you asked for it" she says and suddenly I feel this icy cold blast of water across my face._

"_SHIT! MOM!" I say, leaping up from my bed._

"_Next time, you come downstairs the first time I call you, not the fifteenth, and then you won't have an icy shower. You have fifteen minutes to get dressed and get downstairs and you'll have to eat in the car" she says._

"_Fine" I mutter. She leaves, closing the door behind her and I actually get out of bed. Usually I would push my luck and try to grab an extra fifteen minutes of sleep but she's never pulled the icy cold water trick before and I'm freezing, so I get out of bed and go over to my wardrobe. It only ever takes me two minutes to get dressed, because unlike my mom I don't have endless outfits to choose from. I pull on a pair of skinny jeans, a blue and white striped t-shirt, a black hoodie and my black combat boots and then I'm ready to go. I run a quick comb through my hair, as I don't want to go to school with bed hair and then I run down the stairs._

_Mom is waiting for me in the kitchen and hands me an apple when I walk in. _

"_I made pancakes earlier but since you got up so late, this is all you get" she says. I know what she's doing; she's trying to make me feel guilty about getting up late by teasing me with the idea of pancakes. I would much rather sleep in though, even if getting up early did mean pancakes._

"_Can we just go?" I ask. I wish Dad was here, when it's the three of us in the car it's not as awkward as when it's just me and mom in the car which it is quite often because Dad teaches at schools all over the area so he's usually gone by the time I get up. Mom nods and we walk out to the car together._

_For most of the drive, we don't really speak to each other. Don't get me wrong, Mom and I are close enough but we just don't have much to say to each other, we don't have as much in common with each other as me and Dad do. We can't talk about baseball, or basketball, or football and that rules out my three main areas of interest. She asks me how school is going as usual, but the best I can say is that I'm not failing anything anymore. Like my dad, I have dyslexia, so school is really hard for me. It's not like I need to get amazing grades anyway, I just need to get decent enough grades to get into a good school that will offer me a baseball scholarship. We also discuss my dance classes, one of the things me and my mom do have in common, our love for dance. If I didn't want to be a baseball pro, I'd probably want to be a professional dancer. My Uncle Mike's been teaching me to dance since I was five years old and I'm pretty good by now._

"_Did you hear that your Aunt Quinn and Aunt Rachel are starting the glee club at McKinley again?" she says._

"_What's that?" I ask._

"_Glee Club? You remember me telling you about it, your dad and I were both in it in high school. It's basically a sort of choir, a group of us got together every week and sang, and we'd perform in competitions" she says._

"_I'll think about it" I say. I'd actually really like to do it, but it sounds like the sort of thing all the other jocks would give me crap about, so I have to decide whether it's worth it or not. It's true that I do like singing and dancing but I don't want to alienate my teammates by joining._

"_You should" she says. _

"_I might, if Brant decides he wants to join" I say. Brant Lopez-Pierce is one of my best friends and no one ever tries to mess with him so I'd be safe from any possible backlash from other guys on the team if he joined Glee Club too. Mom and I don't really talk much more the rest of the way to school, we just sit listening to the radio. My mom pulls the car into the parking lot, and I immediately jump out and start walking towards school. I don't like walking in with my mom; it's not exactly cool to have a parent working at your school, although at least I'm not Shay, Kennedy or Carly. Having your parent as the school counsellor is one thing, but having your parent as the Principal of your school is a whole different thing._

"_Are you not going to say goodbye to your mother?" Mom asks, calling after me._

_I turn and walk back over to her. "Bye Mom" I say, giving her a hug._

"_That's much better" she says. I then turn back the way I had just come from, heading towards school again. Brant is waiting for me on the steps, along with our friends Travis, Kendall, Tyler, Tami and Hanna. Well, really they're Brant's friends but since I'm one of Brant's friends too, I kind of tag along._

"_Hey guys" I say. We're all jocks, I play football, baseball and basketball, Travis is a swimmer like Brant, Kendall's on the softball team, Tyler plays football and hockey, Tami is a runner and Hanna is a gymnast._

"_Hey, did you have a good weekend?" Brant asks._

"_It was pretty much the same as usual, I had dance class on Saturday and then baseball on Sunday, plus never ending amounts of homework. It's like all my teachers don't understand that we've only been back a week the way they're piling on the homework" he says._

"_Tell me about it, I had to fit mine in around swim practice, which I have to do all the time because we have a big meet coming up in a couple of weeks" Brant says._

"_At least you guys don't have to deal with your parents getting a divorce" Hanna says. Hanna's parents have been having issues for the entire time I've known her, and in the last six months have been going through a nasty divorce, which of course she has been right in the middle of. If that wasn't enough, her dad is living with the woman he cheated on her mom with, and Hanna's pretty sure that she's soon going to be her step-monster. I'm so glad that for the most part, my parents get along well; Hanna's parents can't even be in the same room together anymore._

"_How's that going?" I ask._

"_The same as it has been for the last six months, awfully. Neither of them is willing to settle for joint custody because neither of them wants me to live with the other one. Heck neither one of them wants me to see the other one, but luckily they don't have any choice in that because I refuse to take sides. The divorce was supposed to be finalised a few weeks ago but it can't be because they refuse to make a custody agreement" she says._

"_I'm sorry Han that sucks" I say._

"_Any chance your mom will let me stay at yours?" she asks._

"_How come?" I ask._

"_I cannot stand living with my mom at the moment! All she does is complain about my dad, and all my dad does is complain about my mom, plus my future step-monster lives at his house. Please, I could really use a break" she says._

"_How long for?" I ask._

"_Until the divorce is final?" she asks hopefully._

"_But that could be months, I'm not sure my mom would be okay with that" I say._

"_Please Remy could you try? My family is driving me up the wall, and I need to not be constantly pulled in two different directions. I'm tired of being the rope in my parents' tug of war, so until the judge decides on one of them or the other, I'd like to be far away from both of them" she says._

"_I'll try" I say, although I doubt my mom will be okay with Hanna living with us indefinitely. But I feel sorry for her, so I'll at least talk to my mom and see what I can do._

"_Thank you Rem" she says, giving me a hug. Out of all of my friends, Hanna is the one I'd say I'm closest to; I'm even closer to her than I am to Brant. She's clever, and funny and sweet and she's such a loyal and caring friend to me. If anyone else asked me if they could move into my house indefinitely, I would say that I wouldn't even ask my parents but for Hanna, I'm willing. No, I'm not in love with her, she's just a friend but we're very close, she's the only one who knows that I'm bisexual, not even my parents know that._

"_How about everyone else? How were your weekends?" Hanna asks._

"_Mine was pretty good, my sister came home from college for a visit, so we spent most of the weekend catching up" Tami says._

"_Which sister is this?" I ask. Tami has two older sisters who are both in college, so sometimes I can't remember which sister is which, especially since I've only met one of them._

"_The one that's majoring in English at Sarah Lawrence, Stella. You haven't met her, the one you've met is Amber, she goes to OSU" she says._

"_Oh yes, I remember now. So did you have a good weekend with her?" I ask._

"_Yeah it was great to catch up with her. We went shopping, and stayed up all night, just talking and watching movies" she says. Sometimes I'm a little envious of Tami, actually all of them apart from Hanna, since neither of us have siblings. I guess it's nice having my parents all to myself, but it gets a little lonely sometimes with no one to talk to._

"_What about you Travis? And you Tyler?" I ask._

"_Oh I was at swim practice with Brant, I've got to work hard if I want to get into college on a swimming scholarship" Travis said._

"_My little sister had a gymnastics meet, she's made it to the Regional championships, so that was great. The rest of the weekend I was just doing homework or at hockey practice" Tyler says._

"_Wow, congrats to your little sister. Does she want any extra practice sessions as well as her normal lessons before the competition? I could help her, if she wanted" Hanna says._

"_I'll ask her, but I'm sure she'd love it. Thanks Hanna" he says._

"_No problem" she replies._

"_Excuse me; is no one going to ask me how my weekend was?" Kendall asks, sounding slightly disgruntled._

"_We were just about to Ken, how was your weekend?" Brant asks._

"_I was tutoring, I need to make some extra money for college" she says. Tami, Hanna, Tyler and I are all sophomores, Brant and Travis are juniors, but Kendall is a senior and she's heading off to college next year. She's Ivy-league bound, accepted to Harvard, but of course, it's really expensive and Kendall's family isn't exactly the richest._

"_Any chance you're looking to take on any extra clients?" I ask._

"_Why? You interested?" she asks._

"_Well I could use a tutor, otherwise I'm never going to pass English this year" I say._

"_Sure, as long as you realise that my rates are very expensive" she says._

"_I'm sure I can manage" I reply._

"_Well then it looks like you've got yourself a tutor" Ken says, shaking my hand._

"_So did you hear that Mrs Hudson and Mrs Puckerman are restarting the Glee Club?" Hanna asks._

"_Yeah I did" I say._

"_Any of you going to join?" Hanna asks, directing her question to the group._

"_No way!" Travis, Tyler, Kendall and Tami say together, immediately._

"_Glee Club's for losers" Tami says._

"_Well I'm going to" Hanna says._

"_Really?" I ask._

"_Yeah I think it sounds like fun, don't you?" she asks._

"_Yeah I do, I was thinking of joining too" I say._

"_I might" Brant says._

"_Do you guys all want to be seen as losers?" Kendall asks._

"_I don't care what people think about me, unlike you" Hanna retorts, storming off. I follow after her, and Brant follows behind me leaving the rest of them alone. _

"_You didn't have to do that" I say to her._

"_Yes I did, they were being jerks and I really don't care if she thinks Glee is for losers, I want to join" she says._

"_I've never heard you sing before, you always just play your guitar" I say._

"_That's because I don't really like to sing in front of people, but I think it's time for me to get over that, don't you?" she says._

"_I do. Do you want to go and audition together, or go by yourself?" I ask._

"_Together, I'd like to have the moral support if that's okay?" she says._

"_Of course" I reply._

"_Guys you do realise I'm still here right?" Brant says, appearing behind my shoulder._

_Hanna and I both laugh slightly because we actually had completely forgotten than Brant had followed us. "Sorry Brant" Hanna says._

"_I'm sorry the others were being so rude" he says._

"_It's not up to you to apologise, it's up to them, and they won't because they can be such jerks sometimes" Hanna says._

"_They're such hypocrites as well, everyone knows that Kendall dances, so does Tami, they go to Uncle Mike's classes just like me" I say._

"_We can't let what they said bug us, otherwise they win" Hanna says._

"_We won't" I say. I wasn't entirely sure if I wanted to join Glee, but hearing their reaction when I said I might, has determined it. I want to show everyone at this school that Glee is not for losers, it's not gay, and it's a place where really talented people can show off their talents._

"_What do you have next?" Brant asks._

"_Chemistry" I say._

"_French" Hanna says._

"_English" he says, sighing. We all say goodbye together and head in different directions to our different classes. I never have any classes with either Hanna or Brant, because Brant is a Junior and Hanna is taking all AP classes, which is really annoying because it means we only ever get to see each other at break and lunchtime. _

_All through my morning classes, I keep watching the clock to see when they will finally end. I hate school, it's annoying when I have to try twice as hard as everyone else at something that everyone seems to find easy and yet I still only just scrape a pass. Maybe having Kendall as a tutor might help me with my English, even if she can be a little insufferable at times, but that still leaves all my other subjects, that I suck at. _

_I meet Hanna outside her classroom at lunchtime and we walk over to the auditorium together, on the way stopping by the music room so she can pick up her guitar for her audition. I'm not entirely sure what she's going to sing, I'm pretty sure she only just found out about auditions today but I'm sure whatever she does will be great. She's from Tennessee originally, so music is basically in her blood._

"_Hi Aunt Quinn, Aunt Rachel" I say. They're not my real aunts, obviously, but basically everyone in our extended glee family calls each other's parents aunts and uncles because we've all pretty much grown up together. _

"_Hi Remy, I didn't realise you were planning on bringing a friend" Quinn says._

"_This is Hanna Bradley" I say._

"_I hope you don't mind that I kind of gate-crashed Remy's audition" she says, shyly._

"_Not at all. Are you going to be performing together?" Aunt Rachel asks._

"_We thought we'd perform separately if that's okay" I say._

"_That's fine, which one of you wants to go first?" Aunt Quinn asks._

"_I will" Hanna says. I can see that she doesn't want to give herself time to get nervous, so I walk off stage and go and sit in the row behind Aunt Rachel and Aunt Quinn._

"_What will you be singing Hanna?" Aunt Rachel asks her._

"_A medley of songs from Taylor Swift's album 1989" she says._

"_Well whenever you're ready" Aunt Quinn says. Hanna takes a deep breath in, and then starts to sing and play._

_**Hanna:**_

_**It's a new soundtrack **_

_**I could dance to this beat, beat**_

_**Forevermore**_

_**The lights are so bright but they never blind me**_

_**So it's gonna be forever**_

_**Or it's gonna go down in flames**_

_**You can tell me when it's over**_

_**If the high was worth the pain**_

_**Got a long list of ex-lovers**_

_**They'll tell you I'm insane**_

_**Cause you know I love the players**_

_**You've got that long hair, slicked back, white t-shirt**_

_**I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt**_

_**And when we go crashing down, we come back every time**_

_**Cause we never go out of style**_

_**Are we out of the woods yet?**_

_**Are we out of the woods yet?**_

_**Are we out of the woods yet?**_

_**Are we out of the woods?**_

_**Are we in the clear yet?**_

_**Are we in the clear yet?**_

_**Are we in the clear yet?**_

_**In the clear yet, good**_

_**Are we out of the woods**_

_**People like you always want back the love they gave away**_

_**And people like me wanna believe you when you say you've changed**_

_**The more I think about it now the less I know**_

_**All I know is that you drove us**_

_**Cause my ex-man brought his new girlfriend**_

_**She's like "Oh, my god!" but I'm just gonna shake it**_

_**To the fella over there with the hella good hair**_

_**Won't you come on over baby?**_

_**I wish you would come back**_

_**Wish I never hung up the phone like I did**_

_**I wish you knew that I'll never forget you as long as I live**_

_**I wish you were right here, right now, it's all good**_

_**I wish you would**_

_**Did you have to do this? I was thinking that you could be trusted**_

_**Did you have to ruin what was shining? Now it's all rusted**_

_**Did you have to hit, where I'm weak? Baby I couldn't breathe**_

_**And rub it in so deep, salt in the wound like you're laughing right at me**_

_**He's so tall and handsome as hell**_

_**He's so bad but he does it so well**_

_**I can see the end as it begins**_

_**My one condition is**_

_**I want you for worse or for better**_

_**I would wait for ever and ever**_

_**Broke your heart, I'll put it back together**_

_**This love is good, this love is bad**_

_**This love is alive, back from the dead**_

_**These hands had to let it go free **_

_**They got the cages, they got the boxes**_

_**And guns**_

_**They are the hunters, we are the foxes**_

_**Didn't they tell us don't rush into things?**_

_**Didn't you flash your green eyes at me?**_

_**Haven't you heard what becomes of curious minds?**_

_**We are too busy dancing**_

_**To get knocked off our feet**_

_**Baby, we're the new romantics**_

_**The best people in life are free**_

_**You can hear it in the silence, silence**_

_**You can feel it on the way home**_

_**You can see it with the lights out**_

_**You are in love**_

_**Rain came pouring down**_

_**When I was drowning, that's when I could finally breathe**_

_**And by morning, gone was any trace of you**_

_**I think I am finally clean**_

_She strums the last note on her guitar and I swear I feel as if I am about to cry. I mean I knew she could play guitar, but I had no idea that she could sing that well at all. It must have taken her forever to learn all those lyrics._

"_That was beautiful Hanna, really lovely. You have a great voice, you can obviously play the guitar and the transitions between those songs were gorgeous, and it's very impressive that you managed to fit so many in" Aunt Rachel says._

"_Thank you, I found someone who did this medley on YouTube and spent all afternoon learning it" she says._

"_You're definitely in Hanna. Well done for bringing her to us Remy, she has a real talent" Aunt Quinn says._

"_It was nothing to do with me, she brought herself" I say, shrugging._

"_We'll see you at the meeting on Friday at four Hanna" Aunt Rachel says._

"_Thank you so much" she says. Immediately afterwards, she flies off the stage and gives me a huge hug._

"_Thank you" she whispers into my ear. _

"_For what?" I ask._

"_For giving me the courage to do this" she says._

"_I didn't do anything that was all you" I say, smiling._

"_Remy you're up" Aunt Quinn calls, interrupting us. I walk up onto the stage, and take a seat directly in front of them. I gesture to the piano player to start, and then I start to sing._

**Remy:**

**I stared up at the sun,**

**Thought of all the people, places, and things I've loved**

**I stared up just to see**

**With all of the faces, you were the one next to me.**

**You can feel the light start to tremble,**

**Washing what you know out to sea**

**You can see your life out the window tonight.**

**If I lose myself tonight, **

**It'll be by your side.**

**I lose myself tonight…**

**(Oh) yeah, yeah, yeah.**

**I woke up with the sun,**

**Thought of all the people, places, things I've loved.**

**I woke up just to see**

**With all of the faces, you were the one next to me**

**You can feel the light start to tremble**

**Washing what you know out to sea.**

**You can see your life out of the window tonight.**

**If I lose myself tonight,**

**It'll be by your side.**

**I lose myself tonight….**

**(Oh) yeah, yeah, yeah.**

**If I lose myself tonight,**

**It'll be you and I.**

**Lose myself tonight….**

**Whoooooooooooooo**

**(Whooooooooooooo)**

**Take us down and we keep trying,**

**Forty thousand feet, keep flying.**

**Take us down and we keep trying,**

**Forty thousand feet, keep flying.**

**Take us down and we keep trying,**

**Forty thousand feet, keep flying.**

**Take us down and we keep trying,**

**Forty thousand feet, keep flying.**

**(Lose myself)**

**If I lose myself tonight…..**

**Whoooooooooo**

**Whoooooo, whoooo**

**Whooooooo**

"_Wow Remy, that was amazing" Aunt Rachel says._

"_You sound exactly like Ryan Tedder" Aunt Quinn compliments. I know this, I've been told many times that my voice sounds very similar to OneRepublic's lead singer, it's one of the reasons I love their music so much, because it suits my voice so well._

"_You're in Remy, we'll see you at the meeting in the choir room at 4 on Friday" Aunt Rachel says._

"_Thank you" I say._

"_Any chance you have any other talented friends who want to audition?" Aunt Quinn asks._

"_Brant said he would, but my other friends weren't exactly keen" I say._

"_That's okay, we're already doing a lot better than we thought we would" Aunt Rachel says._

"_But if you do know anyone who would be interested, then make sure to send them our way" Aunt Quinn says._

"_I will" I reply, walking down the steps from the stage over to Hanna. We both say goodbye to Aunt Quinn and Aunt Rachel, and then leave the auditorium._

"_I can't believe you've been hiding what a good singer you are from me all this time" I say to Hanna._

"_I wasn't hiding it, I'm from Nashville, and you should have figured that I could sing" she says._

"_That would have been stereotyping, I don't assume that everyone from Nashville can sing" I say._

"_Fine, I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I was just nervous to perform in front of my friends" she says._

"_You shouldn't be; your voice is beautiful" I say._

"_Thank you, so is yours" she says._

_As we are walking towards our lockers, Hanna and I bump into Grant Williams, one of my least favourite people in high school. Okay that's not exactly true, I've had a crush on him since the beginning of freshman year and he's completely ignored me the entire time, so either he's straight and he doesn't like me, or he's gay and just mean and pretending not to like me._

"_Remy" he says staring at me._

"_Grant" I say returning the glare. _

"_I think I'm just going to go, leave you guys alone for a while" Hanna says, sensing the tension between the two of us._

"_What do you want Williams?" I ask, clenching my fists._

"_Easy there tiger, I'm not here to fight with you" Grant says._

"_What are you here for?" I ask._

"_I'm here to ask you out" he says, looking completely serious._

"_You are kidding right?" I ask._

"_Nope deadly serious" he says._

"_Are you even gay?" I ask._

"_Would I be asking you out if I wasn't?" he retorts._

"_I'm just trying to make sure this isn't some sick joke" I reply._

"_It's not a joke, I promise" he says._

"_I don't trust you" I say, warily._

"_Look, we both know how hard it is to be gay in this school, so I keep it to myself and so do you. That's why we're both so mean to each other, because we're trying not to show how much we like each other" he says._

"_Don't tell me how I feel" I snap._

"_I like you okay, and I want to go out with you, so what do you say?" he asks._

"_I don't know…" I say hesitantly._

"_We don't even have to call it a date if you don't want to" he says. I'm still unsure but he seems sincere and like he really does want to go out with me, so what can it hurt to just go on one date with him? Maybe he'll be nicer when we're not in school, than he is when we are._

"_Okay, pick me up on Saturday at seven, and we can go out for dinner or something" I say._

"_You won't regret this" he replies smiling, and then walking away._

_I hope I don't. I seriously hope I don't._

_Abby's POV_

_(A/N: Dad is Kurt, Papa is Blaine)_

_I have the same routine pretty much every morning. I wake up at six every morning, before showering and getting dressed. Today I have chosen to wear my blue flared jeans, a grey plaid shirt, my brown Ugg boots and my grey faux fur coat. I guess the good thing about having a dad who works in the fashion industry is that I barely ever have to pay for my own clothes, but it kind of sucks that my dad is in New York, five days out of seven. _

_After I've got dressed, I practice my piano for about an hour. My Papa just started teaching me recently, and I'm getting pretty good, although I'm not as good as he is yet, but I will be someday. My practice is interrupted by a knock on my door. _

"_Come in" I call._

"_Hey, Abby" Sierra says, walking into my room. _

"_Hey Si" I reply. "What do you want?" I ask._

"_Papa wanted me to tell you that breakfast is ready" she says. She's wearing a grey crop top and black leggings with a pair of trainers on her feet._

"_Is that what you're wearing to school?" I ask._

"_No, I got up early and cycled down to the studio" she says. The studio is the dance studio where Uncle Mike works, Si, Freya and I all love to dance, it's one of the things we all have in common. One of the nicer things, the other thing we all have in common is not exactly nice. Anyway, Uncle Mike taught us all to dance, and because we're family friends, he's able to get the three of us extra studio time which means that we can basically practice whenever we want. _

"_What were you practicing this morning?" I ask._

"_Contemporary, I'll be doing ballet tomorrow" she says. _

"_Maybe I'll come down with you tomorrow" I say._

"_Don't you always practice piano in the morning?" she asks._

"_I do, but I really need to practice for my ballet exam, it's coming up soon and Aunt Tana is going to whip my butt if I don't pass" I say._

"_Yeah that sounds like Aunt Tana" she says, laughing. "I can help you if you want" _

"_That's okay, I think I'll ask Freya" I say and then add "No offence"._

"_None taken, I think we both know that out of the three of us when it comes to ballet Freya is the best" she says._

"_Where is she by the way? Still in bed?" I ask her. I doubt that, since the three of us are usually pretty early risers, we all like to do things before school whether it is practicing the piano, or dancing or singing. _

"_No, she snuck out in the middle of the night. Three guesses as to where she went" she says. She went to her mother's grave, that's where she always goes if she sneaks off anywhere in the middle of the night. In some ways, I guess I'm luckier than Sierra or Freya. Sierra never got to know either of her parents because they died when she was too young to remember them and Freya's dad was abusive and her mother committed suicide. I know that my mother loved me, or else I wouldn't be here. If she hadn't loved me then she would have kept me in Burkina Faso with her and allowed my dad and the other male members of our village to make me their sex slave. I wish I could remember her better; I only have some vague memories of her from when I was a kid. I barely know anything about her, I just receive a handmade birthday card from her every year, and that's it. I mean I love Dad and Papa, they're my parents and they always will be but I just wish I knew more about the woman that shares my DNA. _

"_Are you okay?" Si asks, breaking me out of my daydream._

"_I'm fine, I was just thinking about my mom" I say. _

"_The one in Africa?" she asks._

"_I don't have any others" I say, laughing gently. _

"_What's causing the sudden fascination?" she asks._

"_I'm just curious that's all, wouldn't you be? I mean if your parents were still alive?" I ask._

"_I guess" she says, quietly. I'm never sure whether to bring up her parents or not, with Freya it's always a definite no-go but Si doesn't remember her parents so I figure it's not too bad to bring them up because she can't remember them._

"_I guess so. I can't really say though, it's not like I remember my parents at all" she says._

"_Is it wrong of me to be curious about the woman who saved my life? If she hadn't sent me here I'd be married to some much older man, probably with several kids by now, if I hadn't died in childbirth, and I wouldn't have any prospects in life other than being someone's wife" I say._

"_No, it's not wrong at all. You could always write to her, after all wasn't her address on those cards she sent you for your birthday?" Si asks._

"_I think it was" I say._

"_So maybe that's what you should do" she says._

"_But what if she doesn't reply?" I ask, worried._

"_She will Abby, she's your mom, and if she doesn't, well she's missing out on knowing her amazing daughter" Si says._

"_Thank you Si, you always know what to say" I say, giving my sister a hug._

"_No problem" she says. "I need to go get changed, so if you go downstairs, and start breakfast, tell Papa I'll be there in a minute" she says._

"_Okay" I say. We both leave my room; she goes back to her room which is next door to mine to change into clothes for school. Si, my dads and I all have rooms on the second floor of the house, whereas Freya has a room in the attic, she doesn't exactly like being around people very much, she never has. Meanwhile, I head downstairs into the kitchen where my Papa is making pancakes._

"_Hey, Abby" Papa says._

"_Hi Papa, where's Dad?" I ask._

"_His flight was very early this morning, he had an early meeting at Vogue that he needed to get to" he says._

"_We hardly ever get to see him" I say, sadly. It's true, my dad works in New York all week, we only get to see him at the weekends, he gets in quite late on Saturday, and then leaves very early on Monday morning so we only really get to spend one full day with him a week._

"_I know honey, but he's got a good job and we need the money, I mean my band does okay, but we need to have your Dad's steady pay check" Papa says._

"_I know, I just wish he was around more often" I say._

"_So do I" Papa says, kissing me on the forehead. "Where's CeeCee?" he asks. CeeCee is my Papa's pet name for Sierra, she only ever lets him and a couple of her friends call her that, even Freya and I aren't allowed to. _

"_She was just getting changed out of her dance clothes" I say._

"_Well you may as well dig into the pancakes before they get cold. I made chocolate chip for you and me, and blueberry for CeeCee. There were strawberries missing from the fridge, so I assume that Freya had something before she snuck out this morning, or at least I hope she did because I doubt she's planning on coming home before school starts" he says._

"_Are you not worried about her?" I ask._

"_I'm always worried about Freya, but I know where she is and that she's not in trouble, so it could be worse" he says._

"_Does it not bother you? That she's not as close to you as Si and I are? That she doesn't call you or Dad, Dad? That she sneaks out to visit her mother's grave every night?" I ask._

"_Do I wish Freya was closer to me and your Dad? Of course I do, but you're forgetting that you were only five when we adopted you and CeeCee was only four. Freya was eight, older than both you and CeeCee, it makes a big difference. Besides she was mourning for her mother and her father had hurt her terribly, plus we already had you and CeeCee, it's been a lot harder for her to connect with us than it was for the two of you" he says._

"_Her mom died seven years ago" I point out._

"_It doesn't matter; she'll be grieving for her for the rest of her life. It's never easy to lose one of your loved ones" he says._

"_I know that Papa, but you would think after all this time she would be a least a little closer to you guys" I say._

"_We're not her biological parents, and she doesn't consider us her parents, only her legal guardians. I'm not sure if that will ever change" he says, sadly._

"_I'm sorry Papa" I say. At that moment, Sierra walks through the kitchen door, changed out of her leggings and vest top and into a red mini skirt, a pair of ombered black leggings, a black cropped sweater, a pair of black Jay Neen boots and a grey beanie._

"_What are you guys talking about?" she asks, taking a seat next to me at the kitchen counter._

"_Just your sister" he replies. _

"_Is she back yet? I didn't pass her on my way down, but she could always have snuck back in without us noticing. You know if you removed the trellis, then she'd never be able to sneak out of the window in the attic" Sierra says._

"_Then she would fall and break her neck whilst trying to jump out of the window because you know she'd still try to get out that way anyway, so if she has to sneak out then I'd rather she do it safely" Papa says. He places Sierra's plate of blueberry pancakes in front of her._

"_I had to reheat them because they were getting cold but I think they're still alright" he says. She digs into the pancakes with her fork._

"_Delicious as always Pops" she says, shovelling the pancakes into her mouth. _

"_Did you have a good practice this morning?" he asks her._

"_Yes, it was great. I think I have the perfect routine for the winter showcase at school" she replies._

"_That's wonderful sweetheart, I'm looking forward to seeing you in it" he says._

"_Well I have to audition and get in first, besides the showcase isn't actually until December" she says._

"_You will, you're a wonderful dancer CeeCee" he replies. _

"_Thank you Pops" she says. _

"_Are you planning on auditioning too Abby?" he asks._

"_I'd like to, but I don't think I'm going to dance, I'm hoping my piano playing will have got good enough by then that I can play something for the showcase" I say._

"_I bet you will, you've been practicing really hard and you sound really good" Papa says._

"_Not as good as you though" I say._

"_No, but I've been playing piano since I was younger than you, so I've had a lot more practice, but trust me, for someone who hasn't been playing that long, you are very good and if you keep doing your hour's practice each morning then you'll get as good as me very quickly" he says._

"_Thanks" I say smiling._

"_Maybe you could do your dance with Freya, CeeCee, I'm sure she'd love to" he says._

"_That would require her to actually spend time with a member of this family rather than lock herself in her room all the time. But hey if you want to play for the showcase Abby, you could play for me maybe? I'd really like that" Si says._

"_I'd love that, it would be so much more fun than working on something by myself" I say._

"_Great" Si says smiling. _

"_I still think you should talk to Freya and see if she would perform with you, she loves contemporary almost as much as she loves ballet" Papa says._

"_I'd like to perform with Freya, Pops, really I would she's a beautiful dancer and I could easily make my routine work for two people but I just don't think she'd agree to do it. We try to spend time with her, but she doesn't really like us, she never has, ever since we were kids" CeeCee says._

"_I don't think it's that she doesn't like us, I think she just resents us because we'd been adopted by you for years before you adopted her" I say._

"_Whatever her reasons are, you guys have a lot more in common than you think and I think if you both, and I mean Freya too not just the two of you, made more of an effort with each other then you might get along better" he says. _

"_I guess we can try" I say, sounding slightly unsure. Both Si and I have tried to connect with Freya before, and it hasn't worked. She hates talking to people, the only person she really seems to have talked to since starting school is Ginny Puckerman, which kind of makes sense since they're both quiet, reserved people. You have to walk on eggshells around her because she's so easily aggravated, so Papa can't really blame us for not being close to her, because she never allows anyone to get close to her._

"_Thank you" Papa says. As we finish off our breakfast, we talk about school and our plans for the day. Papa tells us about Aunt Quinn and Aunt Rachel's plans for rebooting the glee club and Si and I both agree that we want to join. _

"_So am I driving us to school today?" I ask. I just got my full driver's license although since I am under 18, I don't have an unrestricted license yet._

"_Can she Pops?" Si asks Papa._

"_Sure, take my car if you want" he says. We both give him a hug and a kiss and then I grab Papa's keys off the kitchen counter. We walk out to his beat up old mini and get in the car. His car is almost as old as I am, and we've begged him to get a new one, but for whatever reason he refuses to part with the clunker. We call it the clunker for the sound the engine makes when the car moves._

_On our way to school, Si and I talk mostly about Freya and how we can improve our relationship with her. We don't come up with much, Freya's a very closed off person and it's going to be difficult to break through those walls. We also talk about our glee club auditions, and what we're planning on singing. I want to do more of a Broadway number, whereas Sierra likes more Pop/R&amp;B/Soul style music. Freya likes a variety of music, from musicals, to folk/indie style music to alternative styles; in fact she probably likes a wider range of stuff than me or Si. We pull into the parking lot at school and I park the car in my usual parking spot._

_Pretty much as soon as she gets out of the car, Si spots a friend of hers from McKinley Mixers (an after school dance troupe that she's involved in) and she runs over to greet her, leaving me alone, once again. I scan the crowd for Freya but she doesn't seem to have turned up yet, so I head to the auditorium. I like to come in here and practice dancing (and singing) before school starts sometimes, since no one's ever using it then. Hearing Si talk about her contemporary dance made me feel in the mood for doing it, so I decide to just improvise with a song that I like._

_(I start the song lying on the floor)_

**Abby:**

**I can hold my breath**

**I can bite my tongue**

**(I reach up towards the ceiling and then fall down into the splits. Then I pull myself up and grab my leg and spin around)**

**I can stay awake for days if that's what you want**

**Be your number one**

**(I lean backwards into a crab like position then flip my legs over my head so I am standing upright again)**

**I can fake a smile**

**I can force a laugh**

**(I lift my leg and spin again before falling to the floor in another splits position. I then move across the floor on my hands and knees, holding my hands out as if I am reaching for something)**

**I can dance and play the part if that's what you ask**

**(I hold my leg out above my head and spin on one foot)**

**Give you all I am**

**(I jump into the air and land on one knee)**

**I can do it**

**I can do it**

**I can do it**

**(With each line I do a stag leap across the stage)**

**But I'm only human**

**(I reach my hands into the air and fall to the floor)**

**And I bleed when I fall down**

**(I roll onto my back and place my legs into a star shape)**

**I'm only human**

**(I leave one leg lying out straight and circle my other leg on the floor, and then I do a backwards roll out of this position)**

**And I crash and I break down**

**(I place my hands on the floor and lift my leg straight up into the air, and then I fall back down onto my stomach)**

**Your words in my head**

**(I pull myself onto my knees)**

**Knives in my heart**

**(I mime stabbing myself, and fall back so that my head is touching my ankles)**

**You build me up **

**(I reach up into the air and mime a pulling action, as if I am being pulled up)**

**And then I fall apart**

**(I spin on one leg, holding the other one straight up above my head over and over again until I let myself fall to the floor)**

**But I'm only human**

**(I do a forward roll, and then land on my stomach with my legs and arms in a star shape)**

"_Wow" a voice says interrupting my routine. I look up and there is my Aunt Rachel walking down the centre aisle of the auditorium, followed by my Aunt Quinn. _

"_I'm sorry, I didn't realise you were going to be in here, usually no one other than me uses the auditorium in the morning" I say._

"_We thought we'd start glee auditions before school in case anyone was here early enough, but we weren't actually expecting anyone to be here" Aunt Quinn says._

"_I sometimes come in here to practice before school" I say feeling slightly embarrassed that my practice was interrupted._

"_You're a lovely dancer; I assume Mike's been teaching you?" Aunt Rachel says._

"_That's right" I respond._

"_Since you're here, would you mind auditioning for us now?" Aunt Quinn says._

"_No of course not" I say. I take a seat at the piano behind me, and Aunt Rachel looks at me questioningly._

"_You're not going to dance?" she asks._

"_You've already seen me dance, I figured I'd show one of my other talents" I say._

"_Okay then. What are you going to sing for us?" Aunt Quinn asks._

"_Defying Gravity, Wicked" I say._

"_One of my favourites" Aunt Rachel says smiling._

"_Mine too" I say. I just learned to play this on the piano so I hope it goes well. I take a deep breath before starting to play and sing._

**Abby:**

**Something has changed within me**

**Something is not the same**

**I'm through with playing by **

**The rules of someone else's game**

**Too late for second guessing**

**Too late to go back to sleep**

**It's time to trust my instincts**

**Close my eyes**

**And leap…..**

**It's time to try defying gravity**

**I'll think I'll try defying gravity**

**And you can't pull me down**

**I'm through accepting limits**

**Cuz someone says they're so**

**Some things I cannot change**

**But till I try I'll never know**

**Too long I've been afraid of**

**Losing love, I guess I've lost**

**Well if that's love it comes at much too high a cost**

**I'd sooner buy defying gravity**

**Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity**

**I think I'll try defying gravity**

**And you won't bring me down**

**Unlimited**

**My future is unlimited**

**And I just had a vision almost like a prophecy**

**I know it sounds to be crazy**

**It's true the vision's hazy**

**But I swear, someday I'll be**

**Flying so high**

**Kiss me goodbye**

**So if you care to find me **

**Look to the western sky**

**As someone told me lately**

**Everyone deserves the chance to fly**

**I'm defying gravity**

**Kiss me goodbye**

**I'm defying gravity**

**I think I'll try defying gravity**

**And you won't bring me down**

**Bring me down**

**Ahhh!**

"_Very nice Abby, you have a very good vocal range, and you play piano quite well considering that Blaine told me you'd only just started to learn. You're in" Aunt Rachel says._

"_Thank you" I say._

"_The rehearsal is in the choir room, on Friday at four. Don't be late" Aunt Quinn says, smiling._

"_I won't be" I say. I walk back to my locker to get my books for my first lessons today. I hear the buzzer sound and rush off in the direction of my first class, Chemistry. I'm not looking where I'm going and I crash into someone on my way. I don't notice who it is, I only see their hand touching mine as they help me pick up my books which have scattered all over the floor. _

"_Thank…." I start to say thank you, but then I look up and see the face of the person who is helping me. It's a boy. A boy is touching me. I start to panic, my chest feels tight and I can barely breathe._

"_Are you okay?" he asks, but I can barely hear him as memories of my past flash before my eyes._

**Flashback**

**In Burkina Faso, all the kids used to play soccer when we came back from school, before going down to the well with our mothers to collect water for dinner. That's how the worst afternoon of my life started, just with an innocuous game of soccer. **

**After we finished playing, I walked back to my hut with my friend Amalia who lived next door. We said goodbye at the door just like we always did and then I walked into the hut. I was expecting to see my mama waiting for me so that we could go and get the water, but instead my daddy is standing there with two other big men that I don't know.**

"**Daddy?" I ask, my eyes widening because I'm scared. I don't like this, I want to get out. I reach for the door, to open it and run away but one of the big men I don't know grabs my hand and stops me. The other one slams the door behind me.**

"**MAMA!" I scream, terrified.**

"**Mama isn't here, Daddy wanted to have some alone time with his little baby girl" my daddy says. His voice sounds funny, I don't like it. I scream again, louder this time but Daddy clamps his hand over my mouth.**

"**Quiet!" Daddy snaps. He pushes me to the floor, and the two other big men pin my arms down.**

"**What are you doing Daddy?" I ask.**

"**Think of it as a rite of passage" he says. He reaches under my dress, and I feel his fingers…inside of me. I scream, but my screams are muffled by him clamping his hands over my mouth. He starts to kiss me on the lips and I want to slap his hand away but I'm being held back by the two big men. He removes his fingers and rips off my dress.**

"**I can take it from here" he says to the two big men and they walk out of the door. I try to scramble up after them, but Daddy pins me down. I feel bruises rising on my arms and try to kick out with my feet but that just makes him push down harder. He pulls off my underwear with his teeth.**

"**You're not much but you'll have to do" he says. He forces me to take off his shirt and pull down his shorts, and then take off his underwear. He starts to kiss me again, and I keep kicking out at him but he just ignores me. I scream again, but he places his hand over my mouth and then he sticks himself inside me. I keep screaming and screaming but he doesn't seem to hear me, he just keeps moving up and down. My eyesight starts to blur, I feel blood pooling…down there and the pain is the most horrible thing I've ever felt. It seems to go on forever; I'm not even sure when it's over because I can barely see.**

**I feel a burning pain in my ribs from his foot, and then I hear his footsteps walking away. I can't move; I just lie there, screaming, hoping that Mama will come save me. I scream and I scream until everything turns completely black.**

**When my blurry vision starts to return, I see Mama in the doorway. She screams the same as I did when Daddy was hurting me. **

"**Abby! Baby!" she yells running over to me.**

"**Mama" I croak, because my throat hurts from screaming so loud for so long.**

"**Who did this baby?" she asks.**

"**Daddy" I mumble. She gently picks me up, and it hurts, but at the same time it makes me feel better. She rocks me back and forth the same way she used to when I was a baby.**

"**It's okay baby, Mama's going to make it all better" she says.**

"**Help me Mama" I say, crying.**

"**I am sweetie. Mama's going to save you I promise" she says kissing me on the forehead.**

**End of flashback**

_I don't really remember anything after that until waking up in the hospital. Mom must have called an ambulance I guess. She kept her promise, as soon as my injuries had healed, she sent me to America to be adopted by Kurt and Blaine, and saved me from my father hurting me again. But ever since, I've been scared of boys, any boys because I think they're going to hurt me like my daddy did. I was scared of Papa and Dad to start off with, but once I realised they weren't going to hurt me, we became really close._

"_What's wrong?" the nameless boy asked, looking worried._

_I take a big deep breath in, like I've been taught to when I get these panic attacks, and do this for several minutes. As soon as I am able to breathe properly again I talk, but I don't look the boy right in the eye. I snatch my books from him (he must have picked them up whilst I was having my panic attack)._

"_Are you okay?" he asks._

"_I'm fine" I snap, grabbing the books from him and running off as fast as I can towards my classroom._

_No matter how hard I try to forget what happened to me when I was little, there's always something that brings it back. I might have got better in the last few years what with talking to my therapist but the flashbacks never end, and they probably never will._

**Eli's POV**

**I'm awoken in the morning by the feeling of Bella's rough, wet tongue on my face as usual. As well as being my best friend, she's also like a personal alarm clock. **

"**I'm coming" I mutter. I reach out to try and find my stick but Bella is one step ahead of me and she nudges it into my hand. I place my stick on the floor and place my hand on Bella's collar in order to pull myself out of bed. Using my stick, I make my way over to my wardrobe and pull a few items out of it. I never care what I'm wearing because I can't see it anyway, Mom and Dad pick my clothes out for me and as long as they're comfortable I just go with it.**

"**Find your harness Bella" I tell her. She's trained to basically do whatever I need her to do, so she comes back with her harness in her mouth. I feel for it and then place the harness over her head and do up the straps. I feel for the handle and then grasp it. With my stick in one hand and Bella in the other, I make my way slowly downstairs. When we reach the kitchen door, she stops to allow me to open it and then we walk through into the kitchen.**

"**Hi Eli" Mom says.**

"**Hi Mom" I say, following the sound of her voice to the seat beside her at the kitchen table. **

"**What's for breakfast?" I ask.**

"**Waffles, with strawberries and whipped cream" she says. **

"**Can I have chocolate sauce on mine?" I ask.**

"**One step ahead of you" she says and I hear her walking over to the kitchen counter and picking up a plate. She walks back over to me and sets it down in front of me. I dig into my waffles, which as Mom promised has chocolate sauce on it. I like my food to have as much sugar in as possible, I'm a total addict, and I snack on Doritos and candy bite cookies throughout the day as well. I know it's bad for my teeth, but I've never had any problems at the dentist so I must be taking care of them okay.**

"**How's school been going?" my mom asks. I can hear the worry in her voice, and I just want to shake her and tell her that I'm okay. I really like it at McKinley, and I don't want to go to the special school that she wants me to go to. I've been going to special schools for blind kids since I was little, and it was fine, but I have great friends at McKinley even after only having been there a week and I don't want to leave them.**

"**School's great, I've made friends with Carly, Rose, Leigh and Jessie" I say.**

"**Well that's great Eli; I just think you'll be safer at the school for disabled than you will be at McKinley. You can still keep in touch with your friends and your cousin Betty will be able to keep an eye on you" she says.**

"**But I don't want to go to Cousin Betty's school, I want to stay at McKinley with Carly, Rose, Leigh and Jessie. I like McKinley Mom, I really do. You and dad always tell me how much fun you had teaching there, and I want to have the chance to have the same experience" I say.**

"**Yes we did enjoy our time teaching at McKinley, but we also saw the way the kids used to treat each other there, and I just don't want you to get seriously hurt" Mom says.**

"**You can't always stop me from getting hurt Mom. You've got to stop treating me with kid gloves and just allow me to live my life like any other teenager would" I say.**

"**But you're not any other teenager" Mom protests.**

"**Yes I am, Mom. Just because I'm blind, doesn't make me any different to any other teenager" I say scarfing down more of my waffles.**

"**No other teenagers are my son" Mom says.**

"**Emma, just calm down okay" my Dad says.**

"**I don't see how you aren't more worried about him. He could get seriously hurt at that school" Mom replies.**

"**He could be hurt at any school, but that's why we got him Bella so she can protect him" Dad says.**

"**I'm supposed to rely on a dog to protect my son?" she asks.**

"**Yes, because that's her job, to help Eli and stop him from getting hurt" Dad responds. Bella barks sharply once, in agreement and I ruffle her ears. No matter what, she's always in my corner.**

"**I would just feel more comfortable if he was at a school where I knew he would be safe. He's done so well at schools like Betty's since he was younger, I don't see why we have to change now" Mom says.**

"**Because I wanted to see what it was like in a school where all the other kids weren't blind and I'm really enjoying it so there's no reason for me to change school"" I say.**

"**Listen to Eli, Emma. He likes his school and he's getting on well so there's no reason to pull him out now. Why don't we just see how it goes and if there are any problems, then we can talk about sending him to Betty's school. Can you both live with that?" Dad says.**

"**Fine" I mutter.**

"**Fine, but the minute anything happens to him then he's coming straight out of that school, I mean it" Mom says. After that, we all finish our breakfast in silence, no one really willing to speak after Mom's outburst. I knew she was having a difficult time dealing with me going to a school where the kids aren't all blind, but I never expected her to give an ultimatum like that. It's not like I can help what other kids do to me, and like it or not there are bullies everywhere, no matter what school you go to.**

**Once we've finished breakfast, Dad drives me and Bella to school. Most of our conversation is small talk at first, him asking me how my lessons have been going so far and about Carly, Leigh, Rose and Jessie, until eventually the conversation turns to what Mom said this morning.**

"**Look Eli, I don't want you to worry about what your Mom said. We're not going to take you away from your school and your friends, I promise" Dad says.**

"**You heard what she said, if anything happens to me then she's going to pull me out of school and put me in Cousin Betty's school. I don't have anything against her school Dad, it's just I like McKinley and I don't want to leave" I say.**

"**I know she said that, but your mom is just worried about you and I will try to talk to her and get her to calm down. I promise, I won't let her take you out of McKinley, you seem to be doing really well" he says. **

"**I am Dad, I really am" I say.**

"**Then I will do my best to make sure you stay there. What are you doing for your extra-curriculars this year?" Dad asks.**

"**I don't know, I haven't seen anything that appeals to me yet" I say.**

"**What about Glee Club?" Dad asks.**

"**Glee Club?" I ask.**

"**Yeah you remember me telling you about the Glee Club I used to run in high school right?" he asks.**

"**Right, New Directions" I say.**

"**Well Aunt Rachel and Aunt Quinn are starting it up again this year, and maybe that's something you'd like to join. Carly and Rose will definitely join, and I'm sure Leigh and Jessie would too and it could be something you could all do together. Besides, Glee is a great way of making new friends, all the kids I taught in Glee have ended up being great friends" he says.**

"**I'd love to, there's no other music extra-curriculars and you know how much I love to sing and dance" I say happily. We have to do at least one activity outside of our classes anyway and it may as well be something I really love. Besides I've heard all of my dad's stories from his coaching days and it sounds like it would be a lot of fun.**

**Dad pulls into the parking lot and parks the car. "Have you got everything?" he asks.**

"**Yeah my bag's in the back" I say.**

"**I'll get it for you" he says.**

"**It's alright, Bella can do that" I say. I feel for my stick next to me and then open the door, making my way to the back door of the car so that I can get Bella out. I feel for the door handle and then open the door. "Bella, bag" I say. Moments later I hear her paws hitting the tarmac, and I reach for my bag which is in her mouth.**

"**Good girl Bella" I say ruffling her ears. I pick up her harness. "Dad?" I ask.**

"**I'm here Eli" he says and I follow his voice around to the other side of the car. He pulls me into a hug.**

"**Have a great day at school Eli" he says, ruffling my hair like he used to when I was a little kid. **

"**Thanks Dad" I say. With my cane in one hand and Bella in the other I make my way across the parking lot and then up the steps of the school. One of the many things that is annoying about being blind (aside from the obvious) is that I can never find anyone unless they are talking, or making some kind of sound that I can hear so I have no idea where my friends are. **

**Usually we meet in the canteen so I decide to head straight there. It's quite loud, but one of the skills you pick up from being blind is that you can hear everything no matter how quiet people are talking and you can distinguish people's voices pretty easily. I hear the sound of Carly's voice and I follow it to the corner of the room.**

"**Hi guys" I say.**

"**Hey Eli" Carly says, and Jessie and Leigh also say hello. With my permission they all make a huge fuss over Bella, and she loves it as always, I can hear the sound of her rough tongue licking them, and the sound of them laughing as it tickles. We talk for a while about our classes, and the extra-curriculars we are planning to do. Carly is obviously planning to join Glee since her mother is one of the directors, and she is joining orchestra and chorus as well, Leigh is going to join Glee and she's also in photography club and Jessie seems to be in every club going, being in Cheerios, Art Club, Chess Club, soccer and volleyball. I wonder how she has time for all of that. She also says she would be interested in joining glee club. We also talk about what we are doing in dance class, since aside from Rose we all take them. I may be blind, but I'm actually a pretty good dancer, I find that if I'm explained how to do the moves, I can manage to move my body in the way that I'm wanted to, although I'm nowhere near as good as Leigh, but that's understandable since her dad is such an incredible dancer himself (not that I've seen him dance but I've heard people tell me). **

"**Rose is coming" I say.**

"**How do you know that? I can't see her" Carly says. **

"**I can hear her crutches" I say. Sure enough, a few moments later I hear Rose say hello to everyone, and we reply hello back. Until the buzzer goes, we talk about our weekends, and I tell them all about my problems with my mom. They promise to help me out and make sure that nothing happens that will make my mom transfer me out of McKinley.**

**After the buzzer goes, we all say goodbye to each other and head to our respective classes. Carly and I have Algebra together, I hate Math but at least she's not honours so we're in the same class. It makes Math classes bearable because we just pass notes most of the lesson and she can explain the problems the teacher is doing, since although they do special braille sheets for me, I obviously can't see what the teacher writes on the board and how he is doing the problem.**

"**Hey, I made this for you" she says handing me a CD.**

"**What is this?" I ask.**

"**Well I burned some of my mixes onto a CD for you, I wanted to see what you thought" she says.**

"**How come you didn't give this to Rose? You said that you'd downloaded some onto your phone but you could have just given her this" I say.**

"**Because she doesn't have a CD player, no one does because CD's are so ancient, except I knew you did and I managed to find a couple of old CD's in my parents attic and burned some of my mixes onto them" she says. She hands me the CD and I slip it into my CD player and start to listen. We walk in silence on the way to our Algebra class as I listen to Carly's mix.**

"**Well?" she asks for my verdict as we approach our classroom.**

"**These are amazing Carly!" I exclaim.**

"**Really?" she asks.**

"**Yes really. You could get a producer deal or something with these" I say.**

"**You think so? That's the dream anyway, if I ever manage to tell my parents about it" she says.**

"**Rose is right, you really should tell them" I say, referring to our conversation from earlier.**

"**I told you, my mom is never going to accept it. She wants me to be her mini-me" she says.**

"**Well maybe you should stop worrying about what your mother wants and start worrying about what you want" I say. We reach the door of our classroom. I tell Bella to put her paws up and she does, opening the door for us.**

"**She opens doors now?" Carly asks.**

"**She does everything for me, or that's the idea anyway" I say laughing. Bella leads me into the classroom and Carly follows behind. My lessons of the morning seem to pass so slowly, but eventually I have a free period and so Bella and I head over to the auditorium where Glee club rehearsals are being held. **

"**Hi Aunt Quinn, Aunt Rachel" I say. **

"**Hey Eli, do you need some help getting to the microphone?" Aunt Rachel says. I turn my head to follow her voice so I know which direction I need to be speaking to. **

"**That's okay, I can manage with Bella and my cane" I say. I feel my way around with my cane pinpointing the position of the microphone and taking a seat. **

"**What will you be singing Eli?" Aunt Quinn asks.**

"**You by Robin Stjernberg" I say, telling Bella to lie down by my feet whilst I sing. I carefully adjust the position of the microphone, feeling when it is in the right place.**

"**I haven't heard that one before, but I'm sure it's great" she says.**

"**Whenever you're ready" Aunt Rachel says. I tell Bella to bark as to tell the piano player when to start and then I start to sing.**

_Eli:_

_Hey, do you remember?_

_How we would stay up and talk all night_

_Talking 'bout a destiny_

_And I play the piano, and you would strum on the guitar_

_Those were the days_

_If only you could see me now, I live my dream; I owe it all to you_

_I owe it to you oooo_

_Isn't it crazy, yeah isn't it crazy_

_It's all because of you ooo, all because of you ooo_

_It's all because of you ooo, all because of you ooo_

_I know that if the sky would fall I survived it all_

_Because of you ooo_

_I reach for the horizon_

_Whenever I get days of doubt, bringing me down_

_So even if disaster strikes I close my eyes and then I'm next to you_

_I'm right there with you ooo, hey_

_Yeah isn't it crazy, isn't it crazy_

_It's all because of you ooo, all because of you ooo_

_I know that if the sky would fall I survived it all_

_Because of you ooo_

_It's all cause of you, because of you, because of you_

_It's all cause of you aaahhh_

_I know that if the sky would fall I survived it all_

_Because of you oo aaahhh_

_I know that if the sky would fall I survived it all_

_Because of you oo aaahhh_

_I know that if the sky would fall I survived it all_

_Because of you oo aaahhh_

_Yeah, yeah_

"**Very nice Eli, you have a lovely voice. You're in, we'll see you in the choir room at four on Friday" Aunt Quinn says.**

"**Thank you" I say happily. I pick up Bella's harness and my cane and start to walk out of the auditorium. I hear Aunt Quinn and Aunt Rachel talking to a girl whose voice I don't recognise and I think nothing of it and just keep walking. Then I hear her sing and play the piano, and her voice is so beautiful and her playing so good that I have to stop and turn around to listen to it. **

_**Skye:**_

_**Job well done**_

_**Standing ovation**_

_**Yeah you got what you wanted**_

_**I guess you won**_

_**And I don't want to hear, they don't know you like I do**_

_**Even I could've told you**_

_**But now we're done**_

_**Cause you play me like a symphony**_

_**Play me till your fingers bleed**_

_**I'm your greatest masterpiece**_

_**You ruin me**_

_**Later when the curtains drawn**_

_**And no one's there for you back home**_

_**Don't cry to me, you played me wrong**_

_**You ruin me**_

_**I know you thought**_

_**That I wouldn't notice**_

_**You were acting so strange**_

_**I'm not that dumb**_

_**And in the end I hope she was worth it**_

_**I don't care if you loved me, you make me numb**_

_**Cause you play me like a symphony**_

_**Play me till your finger bleed**_

_**I'm your greatest masterpiece**_

_**You ruin me**_

_**Later when the curtains drawn**_

_**And no one's there for you back home**_

_**Don't cry to me, you played me wrong**_

_**You ruin me**_

_**We're that song you wouldn't sing**_

_**Just a broken melody**_

_**You play me like a symphony**_

_**Play me till your fingers bleed**_

_**I'm your greatest masterpiece**_

_**You ruin me**_

_**Later when the curtains drawn**_

_**And no one's there for you back home**_

_**Don't cry to me, you played me wrong**_

_**You ruin me**_

**I feel a tear rolling down my cheek when she's finished singing. She put so much emotion into her song that I couldn't help but cry, it clearly meant a lot to her. I hear Rachel tell her that she got into glee club, which is hardly a surprise considering how beautifully she sings. I hear a familiar tapping on the floor, and I realise with a start that she must be blind too because the tapping sounds exactly like the sound my cane makes. I follow the sound of her cane down the hallway, stopping when she comes to a stop. **

"**Hi" I say. She must not have heard me following behind her because she jumps slightly.**

"**I didn't mean to scare you" I say softly.**

"**It's okay, I would usually have heard you coming, and I just wasn't particularly paying attention" she says.**

"**Your song was beautiful, it really sounded as if it meant something to you" I say.**

"**Thank you, it was for my ex. We broke up about a year ago, after he cheated on me" she says.**

"**I'm sorry to hear that" I say.**

"**I'm over it, mostly I'm just angry at him" she says.**

"**Well I'm sure it's his loss" I say.**

"**Thank you" she says. "You know I still don't know your name" **

"**Eli Schuester? And you?" I ask.**

"**If you were listening to my audition then you already know my name, silly" she says laughing a little.**

"**I know your name is Skye but what's your last name?" I ask.**

"**Samson, my name is Skye Samson" she says. "Your dog is lovely" **

"**You know I have a dog?" I ask.**

"**I've been stroking her ears whilst I've been talking to you. Actually if you move your cane just a couple of inches in front of you, you'll find my dog, she's saying hello to yours" she says. I do as she says and fondle the silky ears of her dog, and laugh slightly as I feel its rough tongue on my hand.**

"**She's a Labrador, black so I'm told but obviously everything's black to me so I can't really tell the difference" she says, laughing slightly. I love the sound of her laugh, it's beautiful and contagious, and it makes me laugh too.**

"**What's her name?" I ask.**

"**Holly" she says and then adds "And yours?" **

"**Bella, she's yellow, although I can never prove if what my mom told me is true" I say. "Your accent doesn't sound like it's from here" I add.**

"**That's because I'm not from here, I'm from Boston, originally" she says.**

"**I'm from right here, originally" I say, making her laugh again. "So how come you moved here?" I ask.**

"**My dad's work, he got transferred to the Columbus office" she says.**

"**Are you a freshman?" I ask.**

"**Yeah. I wasn't here for the beginning of term though, we just moved last week and my mom wanted to give me some time to settle in before starting school. Today's actually my first day here" she says.**

"**Well I can help you out if you'd like. I might have only been here a week longer than you, but I know where everything is" I say.**

"**That would be lovely, thank you. I haven't really met anyone who's wanted to be friends with me yet" she says.**

"**Well I would" I say. I really like Skye already, and I'd love to get to know her better. I just wish I could see her, because in my head she's gorgeous, but I'll never know whether the picture in my head matches the real thing. But she has the same problem; she doesn't know what I really look like either. **

"**How do you like McKinley so far?" I ask her. **

"**After one day? It seems okay but some of the kids are really mean. This one girl thought it would be funny to knock my cane out of my hands, but I yelled at her and I don't think she'll be doing that again" she says.**

"**You don't seem like the type to yell, not that I'm claiming to know you very well at all" I say.**

"**I'm not usually but I hate it when people think I'm an easy target because I can't see them, and I make sure I let them know it. Luckily I haven't had to put up with too much crap over the years though, most of the kids I've been to school with have been pretty nice about my blindness" she says.**

"**You mean you've always been to schools with sighted kids?" I ask.**

"**Always, my mom and dad wanted me to feel as normal as possible, and that my disability wouldn't hold me back compared to other kids so they sent me to normal schools all through my life" she says.**

"**I've been going to special schools for the blind, I only just managed to convince my mom to let me come here and she's still threatening to send me to a school for the disabled if anything goes wrong here. Does your mom not do that? Worry about you?" he asks.**

"**Of course she worries about me, but she trusts me not to get into trouble and she trusts Holly to take care of me if I do" she says.**

"**Man I wish my mom was more like yours, she's constantly worrying about me even though I have Bella" he says.**

"**She just loves you and doesn't want you to get hurt" she says.**

"**Well if something like you described happened to me, then my mom would probably have me out of here so fast, it would make my head spin" I say.**

"**Like I said, most of the kids are okay, it's just some stupid bullies who think blind people are easy targets. Besides my mom knows that if my cane ever gets knocked out of my hand by anyone then Holly will just pick it up and give it back to me" she says.**

"**I can't believe how relaxed you are about that. I'd freak out if I lost my cane, even though I have Bella" I say.**

"**You get used to things like that when you've been to school with sighted kids your entire life. When I was little, they always used to think it was fun to steal the cane from the blind kid and it was worse back then because I didn't have Holly yet. I've learned to relax when stuff like that happens" she says.**

"**I'm sorry, kids can be so mean" I say.**

"**It was only a few of them" she says.**

"**So when did you get Holly then?" I ask. **

"**It was about three years ago now, I was twelve" she says.**

"**So you're fifteen?" I ask.**

"**Yes, and you?" she asks.**

"**Fourteen, I'll be fifteen in February" I say. **

"**And how long have you had Bella?" she asks.**

"**I just got her last year, for my thirteenth birthday" I say.**

"**She seems to really like Holly" she comments. I can hear the sounds of their tongues licking each other and I have to admit I agree.**

"**That's good, I'm not sure I could be friends with you if your dog hated mine" I say.**

"**Well it's a good job they don't then" she says. I smile, and even though I can't see her, I hope she's smiling too. **

"**Has anyone shown you round Lima yet? I mean I know you can't appreciate the sights but I'll bet you can appreciate The Shake Shack, it does the best milkshakes in town" I say.**

"**Are you asking me out?" she asks, coyly.**

"**Just as a friend" I qualify, glad that she can't see my cheeks turning bright red, as I know they are from the burning sensation I can feel in my face.**

"**I would love to" she says.**

"**Next Friday? After school?" I ask.**

"**That sounds great" she says. I hear her turn a key in her locker and take some books out.**

"**Do you want to come and study with me? We still have a while left of our free" I say.**

"**Yeah" she says.**

"**Any chance you're good at Algebra?" I ask. My math teacher gave me a bunch of questions that I don't understand how to do, yet again.**

"**Are you kidding? I'm a whizz at Algebra. I tell you what, I'll help you with your Algebra and you can help me with this big English project I've got to catch up on, it's an entire week's worth of work" she says.**

"**You have yourself a deal Skye Samson" I say, shaking her hand. I clip my portable CD player to my pants and hand the other headphone to Skye allowing her to listen, and the two of us, Bella and Holly walk along the corridor today.**

**I think Skye Samson is going to make my freshman year at McKinley a whole lot more interesting.**

_Lexi's POV_

_I can never understand teenagers who want to spend most of the morning in bed, there is so much you can do in the morning before school if you get up early enough, but Brant and Morgan would never agree with me on that. I go to bed at 9pm every evening and wake up at 5am every morning. It only takes me twenty minutes to have a shower and not all that long to get dressed either. I have a system for my clothes you see, because I buy the same clothes just in different colours (for school at least, I have nice dresses and stuff for parties). My school clothes always consist of a cardigan, a camisole, a skirt, a pair of socks (matching the colour of the camisole), and a pair of earrings (matching the colour of the camisole), a pair of ballet flats (matching the colour of the cardigan) and my pearl necklace which I wear with everything. Today I choose to wear a yellow cardigan (which means my yellow ballet flats also), a blue camisole (so blue socks and blue earrings), and a white skirt along with my pearl necklace. It's pretty simple really and it means I don't take as long deciding what to wear in the morning and so I have more time to do stuff, which for someone like me, who has a lot to do is essential. I get more done before 7 am than most people do all day. First I practice my song for my glee audition, like I have for the past week, ever since my mom told me Glee was being started again. Now most people would probably tell me that I don't need another club, I'm already a member of yearbook, student council, prom committee, homecoming committee, TADD (it's the teens against drunk driving committee), the school newspaper, the chess team and the drama club, but I've always wanted to be part of a glee club since my moms have told me what fun they had, and I like to have a lot of extra-curriculars. It's good for my college application to have a lot of them and besides I don't like being bored._

_After I've finished practicing my audition song (it's lucky that most of my family are pretty deep sleepers otherwise I'd probably wake them all up when I practice in the morning), I do some work on my article for the paper covering the hockey game, before doing half an hour of yoga which I like to do every morning, as it actually is quite good exercise, and it's very good stress relief for someone like me who is strung pretty tight._

_I check my watch, it's 6.45 I decide to go downstairs and see if anyone else is up yet. The kitchen is dark and empty, not even my moms are awake, but Mom (A/N: Brittany) doesn't have to go to the theatre until 9 (she's choreographing a show at Lima Community theatre) and Mami (A/N: Santana) doesn't have classes starting until 12, when she teaches pre-school age children. Brant and Morgan are obviously still in bed as well. _

_I don't really like eating alone, so on mornings like this when no one in the house is up yet, I jump on my bike and cycle down to the Lima Bean for breakfast. I could drive the car, I have my license but I don't want to wake anyone else up and the bike is quieter. It's not too long on my bike from my house to the Lima Bean, so pretty soon I'm pulling into the parking lot of the coffee house and lock my bike to the bike racks outside._

_I'm known by all of the wait staff at the Lima Bean because I come in near enough every day for breakfast, so when I walk in, the girl serving behind the counter recognises me and beckons me over. _

"_Hey Lexi" the girl, whose name is Amelia says._

"_Great thanks Lia" I say._

"_I'll get you your usual then, unless you want something different?" she says._

"_No, the usual is fine" I say. The usual is a butter croissant and a peppermint hot chocolate. _

"_I'll be right back with it" she says, leaving me standing at the counter alone for a few minutes. I feel a tap on my shoulder and I jump slightly, turning around to face the person whom the fingers belong to. _

"_Hello?" I ask. It's a boy, a very cute boy; he has tanned skin and black curly hair and green eyes.  
"Are you sure you tapped the right person on the shoulder?" I ask, covering my mouth in embarrassment after I say the words, because I didn't realise I had said them out loud until after I heard myself say them._

"_Yes, I'm sure" he says, smiling, and laughing slightly. "I saw you in here every day last week, but I haven't been able to work up the courage to talk to you. But I told myself that today was the day, so here I am" he says._

"_Thank you" I say, blushing slightly at the compliment. _

"_Here's your breakfast Lexi" Lia says, coming back to the counter and placing my hot chocolate and croissant on it. "That'll be $3.75" she says._

_I reach into my pocket for some change, but before I can put it on the counter to pay, the boy has reached over me and placed the money on the counter. "You don't have to pay for my breakfast, I'll pay you back" I say._

"_That's not necessary, all I'd like in return is for you to come and eat with me" he says smiling. My head is telling me that I shouldn't go eat with a guy I just met in a coffee shop but all my heart can say is that he's cute._

"_I'd love to" I say, picking up my drink and croissant and following him over to a booth in the back. _

"_So you already know that my name is Lexi, but I still haven't got yours?" I ask._

"_Kyle Walker" he replies, offering me a beautiful, white smile. _

"_Do you live around here?" I ask._

"_No, I live out in Westerville" he says._

"_Then why do you come all the way to Lima for a cup of coffee in the morning?" I ask, confused. Surely it would be faster for him to get breakfast closer to where he lives._

"_I like it better here than in the coffee shops in Westerville" he says._

"_Don't you have to get back for school?" I ask._

"_School doesn't start till 8.30, I drive over here at 5, arrive at 6.30, and then I'm gone by 7" he says._

"_It's well past 7 now, aren't you going to be late for school?" I ask._

"_I have a free period this morning so I don't have to be in until later, so I thought it was a good chance to talk to you" he says._

"_You do realise I don't have a free, and I do need to be at school by 8.30?" I ask._

"_We've got some time" he says, shrugging._

"_What do you want to know?" I ask._

"_All about you" he replies._

"_I'm 16, a junior, I have a brother Brant, he's also 16, and a sister Morgan, she's 15" I say._

"_Is Brant your twin?" he asks._

"_No, he's a couple of months younger than me. My sister is adopted, my brother is the biological son of my Mami, and I'm the biological daughter of my mom, but we don't really care who's genetically related to whom, we're just one big family" I say. _

"_You have two moms?" he asks, sounding surprised and I am immediately on the defensive._

"_Yeah, do you have a problem with that?" I ask, angrily._

"_No, you don't need to get angry; I was just surprised that's all. I don't have any problem with you having two moms, or people being gay in general. My best friend is gay actually" he says._

"_I'm sorry, it's just people usually give me a lot of crap when I say that I have two moms, and everyone always seems to assume that just because my moms are lesbians that I am too" I say._

"_Oh, I never assumed that. Don't think I didn't notice you checking out my ass when we were walking back to the table" he says, making me blush again. "It's okay, I can't deny I've had a sneaky peek at yours" he says, and I giggle and playfully hit him, making him smile._

"_What else?" he asks._

_I check my watch and take a minute to apply my lip gloss, as it's been 45 minutes since I last put some on and I have to apply it every 45 minutes on the dot._

"_I hate being bored; I always like to be doing something so I'm involved in most of the clubs that are on offer at school, not the sports ones though, because I hate sport. I'm an actress, I love to act, and I'm always involved in the musicals at school whether it's stage managing or starring in them" I say._

"_You like musicals?" he asks._

"_Yeah, why don't you?" I ask._

"_I do, yeah, my mom was an actress" he says._

"_That's so cool, has she been in anything that I might have seen?" I ask._

"_She played Roxie in Chicago for a while, and Miss Hannigan in Annie, but that was a long time ago, she gave up acting when I was born. She's a drama teacher now" he says._

"_I love Annie; it's one of my favourite musicals. What about you?" I ask._

"_I've always loved Grease" he says._

"_You have good taste" I compliment._

"_Thank you, so do you. How long was your mom an actress for?" I ask._

"_About fifteen years. Full time at least, when she was older but she was an actress from when she was a little girl, her first role was as Marta in the Sound of Music when she was about five" he says._

"_I'd love to see pictures" I say. _

"_Well maybe you could come round my house, I'm sure my mom has some photo albums that she could show you" he says._

"_I'd love that, what's your mom's name?" I ask._

"_Lauren, and yours?" he asks._

"_My Mami is Santana and my mom is Brittany" I say._

"_Wait is your Mami Santana Lopez-Pierce?" he asks._

"_How'd you know that?" I ask._

"_Santana isn't exactly a common name, I was trying to work out where I recognized it from and I realised that your mom is my little sister's ballet teacher" he says._

"_Is your sister Callie Walker?" I ask._

"_Yeah! Have you met her?" he asks._

"_No, but my Mami talks about the kids in her classes and I recognised the name" I say._

"_Do you ever help her out in her classes?" he asks._

"_No, I'm not exactly the world's greatest dancer. Brant isn't too bad, and Morgan's okay but none of us are really dancers in the same way that our moms are" I say._

"_Callie loves dance, I do as well, but a slightly different type of dance to her, I like hip-hop, street style dancing rather than ballet" he says._

"_I'd like to see you do that sometime" I say._

"_I'm sure I can arrange that" he says, stroking my hand. I feel a slight shiver at his touch._

"_How old is Callie?" I ask._

"_She's 11" he says._

"_You never told me how old you are" I say._

"_I'm 16 too, and a junior as well" he says._

"_Do you have any other brothers or sisters?" I ask._

"_I have another sister, her name is Claudia, and she's 8" he says._

"_Looks like your mom had a bit of a C thing going on there" I say, and we both laugh._

"_Yeah, I'm the odd one out" he says._

"_What about your dad?" I ask._

_His eyes darken slightly at the mention of his dad and I'm worried that I've said something wrong. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up._

"_You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to" I say._

"_It's fine, it happened a long time ago. I was 8, Callie was 3 and Claudia was just a baby. Our dad was cheating on my mom and she found out. She kicked him out of the house and he moved to Connecticut to live with her. He married her, and they have two kids. We haven't seen him since the day he walked out the door" he says._

"_I'm sorry" I say._

"_There's nothing for you to be sorry about, he made his choice, he could have stayed but he chose to leave and never get in contact with us again" he says._

"_Did you ever think about trying to get in contact with him?" I ask._

"_I tried, Mom tried, even Callie tried, and he won't talk to any of us. He has a new family now and he doesn't want us to be a part of it" he says. "What about you?" he asks._

"_What about me?" I ask._

"_What about your dad?" he asks._

"_No idea who he is, I don't really care to be honest. My moms know, I think, but they won't tell me" I say._

"_Doesn't that bother you?" he asks._

"_No, I think they're just trying to protect me. If my dad really wanted to know me then he would have got in touch by now and he definitely hasn't done that" I say._

"_Maybe your moms wouldn't let him" he says._

"_I highly doubt that, my moms would never cut off contact between me and my dad" I say._

"_They might have" he says._

"_No they would never do that!" I scream angrily, making people in the booths around us turn and stare at me. My cheeks turn bright red in embarrassment that everyone is staring at me. _

"_Look I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you" he says._

"_It's okay, I probably overreacted. I just don't want to think that my moms could ever do that to me" I say._

"_And you're probably right, I'm just a cynic given what happened with my dad leaving and all. I don't claim to know anything about your relationship with your moms" he says._

"_Anyway, I have two amazing moms so it's not as if I need a dad" I say._

"_But you're curious" he says. It's a statement, not a question._

"_How did you know?" I ask, wondering if he was able to read something in my face or body language that I was unconsciously doing that revealed my secret desire to know about my dad, even though I pretend I don't care. _

"_Because I know what it's like to be curious about your dad. I know our situations aren't exactly the same, I knew my dad for the first eight years of my life but ever since he left, I've been wondering what he's like now. Besides which I recognized that look in your eyes, it's the same one Callie and Claudia get whenever anyone talks about Dad" he says._

"_Wow" I say._

"_What?" he asks._

"_I've never met anyone who got my feelings about my dad quite as quickly as you just did" I say._

"_Like I said, I kind of understand" he says. _

_I check my watch. It's almost 8; I'm going to need to be getting to school soon. I find myself feeling quite disappointed, I've really enjoyed talking to Kyle this morning and I don't really want to leave._

"_I probably need to get going, I have to cycle to school so it's going to take me longer than if I was getting a lift there" I say._

"_Where do you go to school?" he asks._

"_McKinley High" I say._

"_Do they still have a glee club there? I haven't seen them at competitions in a while" he says._

"_They haven't had one there for decades but my Aunt Rachel, and Aunt Quinn are restarting it this year. They used to be in New Directions; actually they were part of the National championship winning team in 2012" I say._

"_Your Aunt Rachel and Aunt Quinn, they wouldn't happen to be Broadway actress Rachel Berry and actress Quinn Puckerman?" he asks._

"_That's them, although my Aunt Rachel is Rachel Hudson now, not Rachel Berry. They're not biological aunts or anything but basically the entire New Directions class of 2012 are my aunts and uncles, we're all like one big family" I say._

"_Are you going to be joining?" he asks._

"_Yeah I am" I say._

"_Well if you get in, looks like we'll be competitors" he says._

"_What do you mean?" I ask._

"_The school I go to in Westerville? It's Dalton Academy, I'm a member of the Warblers" he says._

"_If you go to Dalton, shouldn't you be in your uniform?" I ask. He's just wearing a t-shirt and jeans, not the Dalton Academy uniform._

"_Like I said, I've got a free period this morning, so I'll change when I get back home" he says._

"_Well I look forward to beating you at Sectionals" I say._

"_Likewise" he says smiling. I shouldn't like him this much considering that he's our competition, but he's just so cute!_

"_So I'll see you tomorrow then?" he asks._

"_I'll be here bright and early, say 6.30?" I ask._

"_Sounds good, I'll see you then and we can talk more about how I'm going to beat you at Sectionals" he says._

"_You mean how I'm going to beat you?" I ask._

"_Sure, I'll let you think that" he says._

"_It was nice meeting you Kyle" I say._

"_It was nice to finally put a face to the cute butt Lexi" he says. I playfully hit him again, and walk towards the door but before I leave I turn back towards him._

"_You know your personality is almost as cute as your butt" I say, making him laugh. I make sure to walk out of the door slowly, and I turn my head over my shoulder to see him leaning out of the booth watching me walk away. A few minutes later I hear footsteps following me out of the coffee shop. I swing around and face Kyle._

"_What?" I ask._

"_I realised that I let you go without getting a phone number" he says. I smile and hand him my phone, then he hands me his. We each type in our respective numbers and then hand back each other's phones._

"_I'll see you tomorrow Lexi" he says._

"_I'll see you tomorrow Kyle" I say. He gives me a quick peck on the cheek before turning and walking back into the Lima Bean. I find myself wishing he had kissed me properly, I know I only just properly met him and it's too soon, but I felt a connection with him. Still, I figure we're going to see each other every morning anyway, so that kiss will come soon enough._

_I jump on my bike and cycle down towards school; I can't keep the grin off my face the entire way there. No guy is ever interested in me, not even the ugly ones, and here was a hot guy who was totally flirting with me. Sure he might be the competition in glee club terms, but it's not like any of the boys at my high school have shown any interest in me, so what's the harm in going out with one who does, even if he's a member of the competing team?_

_I only get to school about ten minutes before the buzzer to signal the start of lesson goes, so I have to rush to my locker, and grab my books before heading to my first class of the day, Math. I take my seat next to Kira Chang. We're not friends, outside of classes, because she's a cheerio and I'm just your classic overachiever but we talk in Math class. She's actually pretty great, I kind of wish she'd be willing to be my friend outside of Math, but I don't exactly fit in with her, her sister and Shay Hudson._

_I walk over to the auditorium at lunchtime and wait in the seats behind Mrs Hudson and Mrs Puckerman as Remy Lynn and a sophomore named Hanna Bradley audition. After they've both left I walk up onto the stage, taking a seat on the stool in the centre._

"_Hello Lexi" Aunt Quinn says._

"_Hi Aunt Quinn" I say, smiling._

"_Are Brant and Morgan planning on auditioning?" she asks._

"_Definitely, I just don't think they'll be here today" I say._

"_Are you sure you have time for this Lexi? I know how many clubs you're already involved in" Aunt Rachel says._

"_I know I'm busy, but I've always wanted there to be a glee club at this school and now that there is one, I'm not passing up the opportunity to join" I say._

"_Okay then, what will you be singing?" Aunt Rachel asks._

"_Tomorrow, from Annie" I say. I signal to the piano player to start to play, and then I imagine a large audience. I always find I perform better if I am performing to a large group of people, even if it's only in my head._

**Lexi:**

**The sun'll come out**

**Tomorrow**

**Bet your bottom dollar **

**That tomorrow**

**There'll be sun!**

**Just thinkin' about**

**Tomorrow**

**Clears away the cobwebs**

**And the sorrow**

**Till there's none!**

**When I'm stuck a day**

**That's gray,**

**And lonely,**

**I just stick out my chin,**

**And grin**

**And say**

**Oh!**

**The sun'll come out**

**Tomorrow**

**So ya gotta hang on**

'**Til tomorrow**

**Come what may**

**Tomorrow! Tomorrow!**

**I love ya Tomorrow!**

**You're always**

**A day**

**Away**

**Tomorrow**

**So ya gotta hang on**

'**Til tomorrow**

**Come what may**

**Tomorrow! Tomorrow!**

**I love ya Tomorrow!**

**You're always a day**

**Away**

"_So what did you think?" I ask, after I've finished my audition song._

"_Welcome to the glee club" Aunt Quinn says smiling._

"_Your audition was great, you have a lovely voice" Aunt Rachel says._

"_Thank you" I say._

"_The first glee meeting is on Friday at four, in the choir room. We'll see you there" Aunt Quinn says. I walk off the stage, and head towards the canteen for lunch._

_The day passes pretty quickly after that. It always seems to work like that; the beginning of the day is pretty slow whereas after lunch, everything seems to go a lot quicker. After school I have a yearbook meeting, and then I head home._

_I drop my bag in the hallway, and head to the kitchen as soon as I get home. Then I pour myself a glass of water, before walking out of the kitchen intending to head upstairs and start my work, when I hear my mom's voice coming from the living room._

"_Kurt, I said no! We should have told her when she was younger, but we didn't and now she knows you as her Uncle Kurt, I don't think we can tell her now" she says._

_Tell me what? What has my mom been keeping secret from me?_

"_I don't want to keep you from your daughter Kurt, it's the last thing I want, but we agreed when you adopted Abby that we should keep our families separate so as not to confuse the kids. You were the one who wanted to have your family with Blaine, Lexi was always meant to be mine and Brittany's daughter, not yours and Brittany's even if she is biologically" she says._

_The glass of water drops from my hand I am that shocked. I barely register the smashing sound until I hear my mother's footsteps walking towards the door, so I charge upstairs before she can see that I've been listening in on her conversation._

_I've always been curious about who my dad is, but now I know, I wish more than anything that I could turn back time and not overhear that conversation. I don't want anything to change between me and Uncle Kurt, and if he starts acting like my dad then I know it will._

_He can't really be my dad? Can he? I can barely believe it, I don't know whether to feel happy I know who my dad is, angry at my moms for not telling me or sad that my life is completely going to change._

_Because I can't just pretend that I don't know what I know. Knowing that Uncle Kurt is really my dad will change everything, not just for me, but for Abby, Sierra and Freya as well._

Jonah's POV

"JONAH! YOUR BREAKFAST IS ON THE TABLE AND IT'S GOING TO GET COLD IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED NOW!" my mom calls up the stairs. Who needs an alarm clock, when you have Mom to wake you up at 7 am on the dot, every single day? I groan and mumble "Five more minutes" before burying my head in my pillow again.

That was a big mistake. I don't think she heard me, I wasn't speaking very loud after all, but I can hear her coming up the stairs and banging on the door.

"GET UP! GET UP! GET UP!" she yells. I groan, and stretch before getting out of bed.

"I'm up; do you think you can let me get changed without standing outside my door?" I ask.

"Sure" Mom says, her voice reverting to normal. I wait to hear her footsteps walking away from my door before I go over to the wardrobe to choose an outfit for the day. I pick out a black My Chemical Romance t-shirt, a pair of faded blue jeans, a grey hoodie, a Nike hat and a pair of black converses. I lay these out on my bed, and then I take a quick shower before getting changed.

I walk downstairs to find my mom, Dad and Ray, all sitting around the table. "Finally, we've been waiting for you for ages!" Ray says.

"Sorry, some of us don't get up at the crack of dawn unlike certain people I could mention" I say, shooting a pointed glance at Raina.

"I happen to like getting up early in the morning, I get some of my best painting done then" she retorts.

"And I get some of my best sleeping done" I shoot back.

"Alright kids that's enough, eat your breakfast" Mom says, interrupting our little squabble. It's not that we fight, Ray and I are pretty close, and we just have this back and forth banter like any other brother and sister.

Ray smiles at me and I return the smile. I dig into the eggs, sausage and bacon that Mom has prepared for me and she starts to eat her fruit salad.

"So what are your plans today Jonah?" Mom asks.

"Nothing more interesting than usual, just more school" I say.

"Have you joined any extra-curriculars this year Jo?" she asks. Only my mom really calls me that, although I do get it from my friends sometimes and Kennedy calls me Jo-Jo, it was her nickname for me when we were kids. We met in Kindergarten and we've been best friends ever since. Aside from my mom and my sister, she's the only constant female figure I have in my life. Most of the girls in my life are there one minute and gone the next, but she's always been there for me.

"I'm captain of the basketball team this year, and I'm doing track again" I say.

"How about something a little less sporty?" she asks.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Glee Club, I was thinking you should join Glee" she says.

"They don't have a Glee Club at McKinley, they haven't had one in years" I say.

"They do now; your Aunt Rachel and Aunt Quinn are restarting it this year" she says.

"I don't think I will it's not really my kind of thing" he says.

"Not your kind of thing? You love music" Mom says.

"Yeah I do, but performing in Glee Club is kind of lame, and my friends will give me a load of crap if I do" I say.

"Maybe you shouldn't care what they think" Mom says.

"But I do, and I have a reputation to uphold and joining Glee Club will not help me" I say.

"I used to think that, until I joined Glee and realised that those guys weren't losers, they were just a bunch of people who really loved to sing, and all of them have turned out to be my best friends" my Dad says.

"I'll think about it" I say, just in order to end the conversation. I'm still pretty sure that I'm not going to join, but I don't want to have a big argument with Mom about it.

"What about you Ray? What extra-curriculars are you going to do this year?" Mom asks.

"Oh well I'm keeping up with track, art club and book club and I might join Glee" she says.

"Really?" Mom asks.

"Yeah, from the stories you've told us about it, it sounds like fun and I love to sing so why not? Plus unlike someone I don't have a reputation to protect" she says, shooting a pointed glare at me on that last part.

"Look, it is not my fault that the guys on the track team would slaughter me for it. The guys on the basketball team wouldn't be a probably, I'm their captain so they wouldn't say anything bad about me but the track guys would eat me alive" I say.

"Mom's right, you care too much about what people think" Ray says.

"I do not! I do what I want when I want, and I never let what other people say affect me" he says.

"If that was true then you'd just join Glee Club and not give a damn what anyone else thought" Ray says, finishing off her fruit salad. She gives my mom and Dad a kiss on the cheek each, and then waves goodbye to all of us, heading out the door and off to school. Raina bikes to school, whilst I walk. I hate walking but my parents refuse to let me drive either of their cars (okay so I may have a history of joyriding and crashing cars, but it was a long time ago. Well maybe the last time wasn't such a long time ago but I had my license that time!). They won't even let me have a bike like Ray, they say that I'm a liability on anything with wheels which is a total lie, I only crashed my bike a couple of times and I was never seriously hurt. Still I've tried more times than I have fingers to count on, to get them to let me drive a car and they refuse. What is the point of me having a license if I'm only allowed to walk or take public transport places?

"Any chance I could get a lift this morning?" I ask, using my best pleading eyes.

"Nope I've got to use the car to get to the studio, we're working on my new album" Mom says.

"Dad?" I ask, turning to face him.

"Sorry champ, I have a gig at Lima Memorial" he says. As well as performing at comedy clubs, and on TV, my dad does impressions for the kids on the cancer ward at Lima Memorial Hospital, as well as singing for them every week as a way to bring in a more steady pay cheque.

"Fine" I groan. I finish off my breakfast, and hug both my mom and dad before heading upstairs to grab my school bag. I yell goodbye to them over my shoulder and then I walk out the door, shutting it behind me.

I've been walking along the road for little more than a few minutes when I spot a Black Nissan Rogue pulling over to the side of the road. It's Kennedy's car, I'd know that car anywhere. She offers me a ride and I jump into the passenger seat immediately. On the way to school, we chat about our weekends, Kennedy's ongoing struggle with her mother and her desire to go to fashion school &amp; my future plans.

The conversation continues to flow after we arrive in the school parking lot, as we discuss how to get around my most recent grounding. We have a lot of experience in this area, since as soon as I finish one grounding I usually do something that gets me grounded again. What can I say? I like to have fun and having fun usually means I get into trouble.

**Our lockers are right next to each other, and we keep talking whilst we grab our books. I have History and Kennedy has English, but our classrooms are quite close to each other, so we walk together. On the way we talk more about Glee Club, she tries to convince me to join, but I say again that I don't think I will. When I ask her why she's joining she complains about her mother yet again, and I remind her that the solution to her problem is quite simple. I don't really understand why she won't just tell her mom that she doesn't want to be a carbon copy of her; it would have been much easier than lying for five years, and perhaps ending up going to a college that she doesn't want to go to.**

**We say goodbye at the door of my classroom with Kennedy reminding me to keep her secret, and me promising that I will. We use our old childhood nicknames and that brings a smile to my face. She's the one person who never fails to make me smile, always have been. She knows me better than my own family does, and vice versa, and she's the only person that I can tell anything to, no matter what it is.**

**Lessons seem to pass even more slowly than usual today for some reason. By lunchtime, I just can't wait for school to be over. I start to head over to the canteen for lunch, but at the last moment, I change my mind and head towards the auditorium instead.**

**I know I told Kennedy that I didn't think I'd join Glee, and I said the same to my family, but when I recall our conversation and remember her disappointed face, I decide that if it's going to make her happy then I'll do it. I always want to make Kennedy happy, no matter what I have to do. I know I told my mom that I didn't want the track guys to tease me, but my sister was right when she says that I do whatever I want no matter what other people think. So what if they don't think Glee is cool, I love music and who knows, it might be fun.**

**I wait for Lexi Lopez-Pierce to finish her song, and then I walk out onto the stage.**

"**Jonah, I wasn't expecting to see you here" Aunt Rachel says, sounding surprised.**

"**Kennedy said you wanted more boys to sign up, and I figured what the heck? I'm a good singer, you might be able to use me" I say shrugging.**

"**That's great Jonah. What will you be singing for us?" Aunt Quinn asks.**

"**The A Team by Ed Sheeran" I say, taking a seat at the piano. I'm about to play the chords for the start of the song when I change my mind. I'd rather do something different to show off the full set of my many abilities.**

"**Actually I've changed my mind, I'll be doing a mashup of The A Team and Let Her Go" I say.**

"**Okay whenever you're ready" Aunt Rachel says.**

**I start to play the first chord, and sing. It's lucky I've done this mashup enough times before that I know it off by heart, otherwise I'd be screwed.**

_Jonah:_

_White lips, pale face_

_Breathing in snowflakes_

_Burnt lungs, sour taste_

_Light's gone, day's end_

_Struggling to pay rent_

_Long nights, strange men_

_And they say _

_She's in the class A Team_

_Stuck in her daydream_

_Been this way since eighteen_

_But lately her face seems_

_Slowly sinking, wasting_

_Crumbling like pastries_

_And they scream_

_The worst things in life come free to us_

_Cause you only need the light when it's burning low_

_Only miss the sun when it starts to snow_

_Only know you love her when you let her go_

_Only know you've been high when you're feeling low_

_Only hate the road when you're missing home_

_Only know you love her when you let her go_

_And you let her go_

_Staring at the bottom of your glass_

_Hoping one day you'll make a dream last_

_But dreams come slow and they go so fast_

_You see her when you close your eyes_

_Maybe one day you'll understand why_

_Everything you touch surely dies_

_Her face seems_

_Slowly sinking, wasting_

_Crumbling like pastries_

_And they scream_

_The worst things in life come free to us_

_Cause we're just under the upper hand_

_And go mad for a couple grams_

_And she don't want to go outside tonight_

_And in pipe she flies to the motherland_

_Or sells love to another man_

_It's too cold outside_

_For angels to fly_

_And you let her go_

_And you let her go_

_And you let her go_

_Well you only need the light when it's burning low_

_Only miss the sun when it starts to snow_

_Only know you love her when you let her go_

_Only know you've been high when you're feeling low_

_Only hate the road when you're missing home_

_Only know you love her when you let her go_

_Cause we're just under the upper hand_

_And go mad for a couple grams_

_And she don't want to go outside tonight_

_And in a pipe she flies to the motherland_

_Or sells love to another man_

_It's too cold outside_

_For angels to fly_

_And you let her go_

_And you let her go_

_For angels to fly_

_To fly_

_To fly_

_To fly_

_And you let her go_

_To fly_

_To fly_

_For angels to die_

"**That was great Jonah! I didn't know that you arranged your own music" Aunt Rachel says grinning.**

"**I try to, I find it more fun than just singing one track straight" I say.**

"**That's a great skill we could use in Glee Club. Mashup weeks were some of our favourites back in the day" she says.**

"**You're in Jonah, we could use someone creative who can mix different songs together" Aunt Quinn says.**

"**Rehearsal is on Friday at four in the choir room Jonah, don't be late" Aunt Rachel says.**

"**Kennedy won't let me, trust me" I say. "Speaking of Kennedy, when she comes for her audition, could you not mention that I've auditioned?" I ask.**

"**Why would I do that?" Aunt Rachel responds.**

"**Because I want it to be a surprise for her. I told her that I wasn't planning on joining Glee and then I changed my mind, I'd like to see the look on her face when she finds out, she'll be thrilled" I say.**

"**You like her don't you?" Aunt Rachel says.**

"**Sure I do, she's my best friend, has been ever since I was five" I say.**

"**No you really like her, as in a more than friend" she says.**

"**That's crazy, it would be like dating my sister" I say, shaking my head at the gross mental picture of Ray and I dating.**

"**You might think that, but your actions say the exact opposite. You date a new girl every week and none of them ever stick, the only long term relationship you've had with a female besides your mother and sister is with Kennedy, and you came to audition today because you knew it would make her happy" she says.**

"**I don't have feelings for her!" I insist.**

"**You keep telling yourself that, I know the truth" she says, smiling coyly.**

"**Bye Aunt Rachel, Bye Aunt Quinn. I'll see you at rehearsal on Friday" I say. Aunt Rachel casts me a knowing smile before I walk off the stage. Is she right? Do I actually have feelings for Kennedy? **

**Before talking to her, I would never have considered the possibility that I might have feelings for Kennedy, but now there's a niggling seed of doubt there that I can't push away. What happens if I do have feelings for Kennedy and she doesn't have them for me? I shake my head, trying to push the thought out of my head. This worrying about whether a girl likes me or not is just not me.**

**Kennedy mentions at lunch that she's going to audition for Glee after school, so when my lessons are all finished for the day I head over to the auditorium to watch her audition. She is already on stage by the time I get there. I love hearing her sing, she has such a lovely voice and I can understand why her Mom wants her to be on the stage, if that was what she truly wanted then I'm sure she'd be a great Broadway actress. But she doesn't, she wants to be a fashion designer and I'm determined to help her achieve that dream. **

**I'm about to walk away from the stage, when I overhear the conversation between Kennedy and her mom. They're talking about me! Aunt Rachel seems to be saying the same things to Kennedy as she did to me, and she responds in much the same way as I did, that I'm more like a brother to her than a boyfriend. But for some reason, when she says it, it makes me feel angry. I punch through the wall closest to me causing my knuckles to bleed. I cradle my hand gently, and hope that Kennedy didn't hear the noise. **

**I hear Kennedy walking off the stage, and quickly hide my bleeding hand behind my back. She's quite embarrassed that I overheard her conversation with her mom; I can see it in her face. When she says to me that she just wants us to be friends something inside me sinks. Wasn't that what I said to Aunt Rachel this morning? She's saying something, but I don't really hear it, I'm just looking at her.**

**I don't get it, this morning she was just my friend Kennedy and now I'm completely unsure about the way I feel about her. I change the subject, hoping that she doesn't notice that I didn't reply to her question. I talk to her about the plan I have come up with to talk her parents into letting her go to fashion school rather than NYADA. Whilst she seems a little unsure at first, when I offer for her to make her designs at my house so her parents won't find out, she perks up and thanks me for helping her. She gives me a hug and I hug her back, smelling the familiar smell of her coconut shampoo, making sure to hide my injured hand behind my back.**

**I suggest that we go to the Shake Shack and she agrees. We head out to her car together, discussing plans for Operation Get Kennedy into Fashion School. **

"**What was that noise? Just as I was about to come offstage there was a big bang, what did you do?" she asks.**

**I can't admit that I punched a wall because I was angry that she said we could only be friends so I come up with a quick lie. "Oh I accidentally tripped over in the wings and hit my hand on the wall. It was nothing, really" I say.**

**She looks sceptical at my explanation, but she lets it slide. "Let me see" she says. I take my hand gingerly from behind my back. The knuckles are bleeding, and my hand is bruised and swollen.**

"**Does this hurt?" she asks, poking at my hand.**

"**Oww! Yes!" I say.**

"**I think you might have broken your hand. We need to take you to the emergency room" she says.**

"**I'll be fine, it really doesn't hurt that bad" I say, although I can't help but grimace slightly.**

"**If it didn't then you wouldn't be grimacing" she says. She takes her snood off and makes a kind of makeshift sling for my hand. It's kind of nice, her taking care of me. **

"**Let's go and get your hand fixed and then we can go for a shake after" she says.**

"**Okay" I say, realising that she's not going to let it go until I've had my hand x-rayed, and soon after we reach her car. As she drives me to the hospital, I can't stop looking over at her. I don't understand how one conversation with Aunt Rachel could make me feel this way. Maybe I've had these feelings for a while, or maybe they're more recent, I don't know, but one thing I do know is that I can't tell Kennedy. She doesn't feel that way about me, and I don't know if I can stand her rejecting me to my face. I'll just have to keep my feelings to myself, for now at least.**

_Leigh's POV_

"_Leigh, breakfast!" my mom calls from downstairs. I pull my head out from under the covers in a shock. I didn't realise that I had slept for so long. _

"_Hey" I say, shaking Niko awake. Niko is my boyfriend, my secret boyfriend. He's in one of my dad's dance classes that I help out at, and we met last year, and just really hit it off. I haven't been able to tell my dad about him, I mean he's a lovely guy but he comes from a not very good background, his mom was a teenage mother and he only started going to school a few years ago because she couldn't afford to send him, plus they don't exactly live in the best neighbourhood. I'm not sure why I haven't told my dad about him, he's a nice guy but my dad is so protective of me that he probably wouldn't like me going out with any guy, much less someone from the bad part of town. _

"_What?" he murmurs sleepily, rubbing his eyes._

"_We overslept, my mom just called me for breakfast and if she comes up here and finds you in my room then she will tell my dad and I will be dead" I say, pulling the covers off him. _

"_I don't get why you don't just tell them that we're dating, we've been dating for almost a year now, and your dad likes me doesn't he? I see him as kind of like a dad, he's the closest thing to a dad I've ever had" he says._

"_My dad likes you, you're one of his favourite students" I say._

"_So what's the problem? Why can't you tell him about us?" he asks. "We told my mom" he adds. _

"_Because he's overly protective of me and he doesn't want me to date until I'm like thirty! To him no boy will ever be good enough for me and whilst he may like you now, he won't like you when he finds out that you're my boyfriend" I say. "Besides, we knew your mom would be much cooler about it than my parents"_

"_You're not exactly giving him a chance. He might take it really well" he says._

"_You clearly don't know my dad as well as you think you do" I say. "Hurry up, my mom is going to be wondering where I am" _

_As if on cue my mom calls for me again. "Leigh, where are you?" she asks._

"_Showering" I call, dashing into my en-suite bathroom and turning on the shower to make it believable._

"_Okay well hurry up. Your porridge is getting cold" Mom calls._

"_Will do" I yell. I grab Niko's trainers from under the bed and throw them to him. "Put those on" I say._

"_What about my shirt?" he asks. I turn around to see that he is in fact shirtless, a fact which I had forgotten; although I haven't forgotten the fun we had last night. I'm momentarily distracted by the site of his muscular chest._

"_Leigh? Shirt?" he asks, breaking me out of my reverie._

"_Of course" I say, rummaging under the covers to find his shirt. I eventually find it under his pillow. I throw it over to him._

"_Now get out of here" I say shooing him over to the window._

"_Is that all I get?" he asks._

_I smile and wrapping my hands around his waist, I kiss him. The kiss lasts for several minutes. "Is that better?" I ask._

"_Much" he says, kissing me again. "Are you ever going to tell your family about us?" he asks._

"_I will but just not yet. When I'm ready" I say._

"_Any ballpark on how long that will be?" he asks._

"_Get out of here; I'll be ready when I'm ready and when I do decide to tell them, we'll tell them together, sound good?" I say._

"_Sounds perfect" he says, giving me a quick peck on the lips before shimmying down the drainpipe, his usual escape route. When he reaches the bottom, I call out the window, "Same time tonight?" _

"_You bet" he says blowing me a kiss before disappearing off in his rusty, beat up second hand car that he had to work the entirety of last summer to afford._

"_LEIGH PUCKERMAN!" Mom calls, sounding angry now._

"_FIVE MORE MINUTES!" I reply, jumping in the already running shower to make my ruse believable. I shower in record quick time and then go over to my closet, pulling out a t-shirt, a black sweater with the words "Normal People Scare Me" written on it, a pair of ripped acid wash jeans, a striped baseball cap and a pair of trainers. I'm not really a girly girl; I much prefer comfortable jeans and a t-shirt, to a skirt and heels. _

_I make my way downstairs, where my mom, Dad &amp; Josh are already eating breakfast. "Morning everyone" I say._

"_I had to reheat your porridge, what took you so long?" Mom asks._

"_My shower took longer than intended sorry" I say. Mom doesn't look like she believes me, neither does Josh. I send him a look that indicates he shouldn't say anything, but as always he ignores it._

"_I bet you anything she has a secret boyfriend that she had to smuggle out of her room" he says. Josh doesn't know about Niko, so it's amazing how fast he actually hit on the right answer, unless he really does know and has seen me smuggle Niko in and out of the house, but I doubt that since he only ever comes in and out through the window. He's probably just saying it because he knows it will annoy me. I love my brother, but as with most sibling relationships, sometimes I want to kill him. _

"_I hope that isn't true Kayleigh" my dad says sternly. I always know I'm in trouble when my dad uses my full name; he never does unless he's either angry or about to be angry._

"_It's not, Josh is just trying to annoy me" I say, kicking Josh under the table. I start to dig in to my porridge, ignoring the glare that Josh is giving me._

"_Good, I would hope that if you had a boyfriend you would tell me" my dad says._

"_You know I would" I say, feeling even worse about the fact that I've been lying to him about dating Niko for almost a year now. In that moment I promise to myself that I'm going to tell my dad about Niko sooner rather than later. _

"_How have you been doing at school Josh? Made any good friends?" Mom asks him._

"_Fine, I've made some friends" he says, his usual short and fairly vague answer. He used to be such a sweet boy, quiet, always with his head in a book. Then three years ago, out of nowhere and for seemingly no reason whatsoever, he just changed. He started hanging out with the bad boys at school &amp; smoking behind the bleachers. He'll talk to me one on one about things, in fact he seems to like it, and he'll talk to our dad too, but he barely ever talks to our mom, only argues with her nowadays. I mean they were never all that close but something changed three years ago and he started lashing out at her. He doesn't talk much when it's all four of us together for some reason._

"_Who?" Mom asks._

"_Other boys who don't fit in, like me" he says. _

"_You could fit in if you tried a little harder" Mom says._

"_I don't want to try harder, it's fun being on the outside" he says._

"_Are you looking out for Josh at school Leigh? It's only his second week of high school after all" Mom says._

"_Josh can look after himself quite easily, he's punched out three guys since school started because they've insulted him for being gay" I say._

"_We know, but you are his older sister, shouldn't you be making sure that none of these jerks insult him in the first place" Mom says._

"_That's not exactly fair Marley, she can't be monitoring what every single jerk says to Josh every second of every day, and she's not in any of his classes" Dad says._

"_I can stand up for myself! I don't need Leigh to stand up for me, those jerks would find even more reason to tease me if I needed my sister to fight my battles for me" Josh insists._

"_He's handling it Marley" Dad says._

"_Not in the right way, he shouldn't be punching out guys at school" Mom says._

"_Those jerks deserve it!" Josh yells._

"_Maybe so, but you need to be the bigger man" Mom says._

"_So what? I just stand there and take it? I'm not going to do that" he says._

"_No you tell Finn what they've been saying to you" Mom replies._

"_You think I haven't tried that? Uncle Finn's suspended them so many times but they haven't got the message yet, so I make sure that they do" he says._

"_Marley just leave it" Dad says. She doesn't look like she wants to but begrudgingly she drops it and changes the focus of the conversation to me._

"_How's school been going for you Leigh?" she asks._

"_Pretty good, I'm still doing photography club and that's fun, and I'm going to audition for the winter showcase, I'm hoping to do a dance solo in it" I say._

"_Would you like my help practicing? I mean you don't need it, you're an amazing dancer anyway, but it might be fun to work on it together" Dad says._

"_I'd love that Dad, thank you" I say. One of my favourite things in the world is dancing with my dad, because he's so talented and there's so much you can learn from dancing with someone who is better than you and we make a killer dancing team. One of the first dance competitions I ever won was a dad-daughter dance contest at a holiday camp when I was seven. _

"_Okay then, we can practice after class" he says smiling. _

_I help with all of my dad's dance classes, he even allows me to teach some of the younger kids by myself. It's great because not only do I get to do the thing I love the most, it's meant that I've met the most amazing boy who I never would have met if I hadn't been helping out there. _

_I wolf down the rest of my porridge at astonishing speed. "Where's the fire?" Dad asks. _

"_I want to cycle down to the studio before class to get some practice in" I say._

"_I don't want you going down there by yourself, it's not a good part of town to go to alone" Dad says._

"_Relax, I wasn't going to go to your studio, it's all the way on the other side of town. I'm going to Uncle Mike's studio, it's only a ten minute bike ride away from here and classes don't start there until nine, so he lets all of the glee kids who want to practice there before class" I say._

"_Oh okay, that's alright then" Dad replies. I give him a hug and then Mom as well. Josh and I share a rather awkward hug, he's not too keen on being touched nowadays, and I have no idea why. Maybe going to practice dance isn't the greatest idea after having just had a shower, but I wasn't actually planning on showering before breakfast this morning, the only reason I had to was because I didn't want Mom and Dad to get suspicious. I guess I'll just have to take another shower after practice and be extra clean today!_

_I run upstairs and grab my shoulder bag, shoving my dancing clothes into it. My shoulder bag is The Fault In Our Stars themed, as it is my favourite book of all time. I just think John Green is such a wonderful writer and Hazel and Augustus' relationship is beautiful despite how tragic the end is. _

_I cycle down to Uncle Mike's studio, and after changing, head to my favourite practice room, the one right at the back, because it's quiet and far away from everyone else practicing. It's also mirrored on both the front and back walls which means you get a better look at yourself whilst you're dancing as you can see yourself when you're facing the wall that doesn't normally have the mirror on._

_I take my IPod out of my pocket and put it into the docking station, before starting to dance and sing along to the song._

**Leigh:**

**So lately, been wondering**

**(I do a rondé on the floor and then kick my leg up behind my head)**

**Who will be there to take my place**

**(I pick up my leg and hold it above my head, spinning on one foot)**

**When I'm gone, you'll need love**

**(I hold my arms out, and then do a pirouette and bring my arms into my chest)**

**To light the shadows on your face**

**(I do a jump, landing on my knees and pull my arms in close to me)**

**If a great wave shall fall**

**(I do an arabesque, and then a stag jump, landing on my knees and then rolling onto my stomach, then I roll across the floor)**

**It'd fall upon us all**

**(I come up onto my knees and bring my hands up above my head, before bringing them down and grabbing my knees so I am curled up in a ball)**

**And between the sand and stone**

**(I lift my left leg up behind me and then bring it over so I am sitting in a straddle)**

**Could you make it on your own?**

**(I bring my legs together and do a backbend, flipping my legs over my head and landing in the splits)**

**If I could, then I would**

**(I lift my leg behind my head and spin on one foot again)**

**I'll go wherever you will go**

**(I perform a pirouette)**

**Way up high or down low**

**(I perform a split leap on the high part, my right hand reaching back to touch my right leg and my head tilted back, and on the low part I fall to my knees)**

**I'll go wherever you will go**

**(I put my leg up behind my head, and then with my hands on the floor, with my right leg behind me, I point my left leg across and then roll over, ending up on my bum)**

**And maybe, I'll find out**

**(I reach my hands out with one leg bent and one leg straight, and then I spin on my knees)**

**The way to make it back someday**

**(I point my right leg out and perform another spin, and then I walk a few steps forward)**

**To watch you, to guide you**

**(I bring my leg up out to the side with my arms out in front of me, and then flick it back behind me)**

**Through the darkest of days**

**(With my arms pointing towards the sky I go into a plié and then slide to the side, and do another spin)**

**If a great wave shall fall**

**(I fall to my knees again, bringing my arms up above my head and then curl into a ball before rolling across the floor)**

**Well I hope there's someone out there**

**(I do a series of split jumps across the studio, with my arms out in front of me as if I'm reaching for something)**

**Who can bring me back to you**

**(I lift my arms up, making a circle around my head, and lift my leg up to the side above my head and spin)**

**If I could, then I would**

**(I lift my leg out to the side, holding my arm underneath it, with my other arm pointing to the side and then spin on one foot again)**

**I'll go wherever you will go**

**(I go into the splits and do a drag move across the floor, one leg straight ahead, one bent behind)**

**Way up high, or down low**

**(I perform box splits and then fall to my knees again)**

**I'll go wherever you will go**

**(I come back onto my feet again, doing several fast pirouettes)**

**Run away with my heart**

**Run away with my hope**

**Run away with my love**

**(I move backwards, alternately switching legs, jumping on one bringing the other behind me on each line)**

**I know now, just quite how**

**(I perform another split leap, and when I land immediately do another pirouette)**

**My life and love my still go on**

**(I jump up bringing my legs up behind me and grabbing them before returning to the floor)**

**In your heart, in your mind**

**(I bring my hands into my chest and fall to my knees, clutching my head and spinning it around)**

**I'll stay with you for all of time**

**(I go into the splits, bending my head down to touch my knees)**

**If I could, then I would**

**(I stand up, lifting my leg up to the side and spin again)**

**I'll go wherever you will go**

**(I reach my arms out, jumping across the stage once more)**

**Way up high, or down low**

**(I do another split leap and fall to my knees once more)**

**I'll go wherever you will go**

**(I reach my arms out in front of me and crawl across the stage)**

**If I could turn back time**

**(I move my arms in a clock like movement whilst turning)**

**I'll go wherever you will go**

**(I put my hands down on the floor in front of me, and pull myself into a handstand, before flicking my legs over and landing in a bridge)**

**If I could make you mine**

**(I pull myself up to standing and bring my arms into my chest)**

**I'll go wherever you will go**

**(I fall to the floor again, and move backwards on my bum)**

**I'll go wherever you will go**

**(I stand up, reaching out with my right hand, and then I turn around and walk away)**

_I hear clapping from behind me, and turn around to see Niko standing in the doorway. "How long have you been there?" I ask._

"_Oh I just saw the end. It's a beautiful routine you've come up with, is that what you're using for your winter showcase audition?" he asks._

"_No, the one I'm doing for my showcase audition is even better. I'm doing it to All of The Stars, you know the Ed Sheeran song from The Fault In Our Stars soundtrack" I say._

"_I'm sure you'll look just as beautiful as you did then. I swear I fell in love with you the first time I watch you dance. You create magic on that dancefloor" he says making me blush._

"_You're not so bad yourself" I say, kissing him. "I have to go and shower" _

"_Want some company?" he asks, raising his eyebrow at me._

"_I'm not sure we have time" I say._

"_We've got plenty of time" he says, and I let him take my hand. We run to the changing room, and jump in the shower, fully clothed (it's lucky I left my shoes in the bag since I didn't need them to dance, because I like those shoes and don't want them to get wet), and I turn the water on. Niko kisses my mouth hungrily, and I wrap my legs around his waist. He pulls off my tank top, and starts to trail kisses down my neck. He rips my bra off with his teeth, and then starts to suck on my nipple, making me moan in pleasure. I rip off his shirt, trailing kisses along his chest. He places me down gently, and pulls my leggings off and I pull off his trousers. He tears off my underwear with his teeth, and then I pull off his underwear. I wrap my legs around his waist again, and start to kiss him even more hungrily. He thrusts himself into me, running his hands through my hair, and I run my fingers along his back. He continues to thrust deeper and deeper inside me, throwing____me back against the wall of the cubicle. He runs his hands along the scars on my back, making my spine tingle. I suck on his neck, forming a hickey. I moan in his ear making him go faster and harder, and with each thrust I scream louder until we both climax and collapse down into the shower cubicle. _

"_You really need to work on your loudness though, if you do that whilst we're at your house then you'll get us discovered" Niko says, tickling me._

"_Get off!" I exclaim, laughing. "I was just excited, there's no one here which means I can be as loud as I want. You know you love it" I say._

"_It is very…encouraging" he says, kissing me again. I push him off as I can see where he's going._

"_We don't have time for round two that will have to be tonight" I say smiling._

"_I'm not sure I can wait that long" he says._

"_Well you're going to have to" I say, getting up and grabbing a towel from my bag. _

"_Let me" he says, taking the towel. He dries me off, kissing my shoulder as he does so, which makes me moan again. Once he's finished I pull my school clothes back on._

"_You're going to have to stop ripping my underwear, I can't be going to school commando all the time" I say, making Niko laugh. _

"_I'm afraid that is out of my control" he says and I laugh too. _

"_Did you come down here just to have sex with me?" I ask, not really caring if it was, I'm just curious._

"_No, I just wanted to spend time with you before school, but I kind of got distracted when I saw you dance" he says and I smile._

"_How about tomorrow you meet me down here and we dance together?" I say._

"_I'd like that, but what about us dancing together do you think won't led to sex?" he asks._

"_If it does then that's just a bonus" I say smirking. I'm not obsessed with sex or anything, I just enjoy being close to Niko. We usually stay up most of the night talking afterwards, which is probably why we overslept this morning._

"_We'd better get going or we're going to be late for school" I say. _

"_Wait, isn't it your turn to dry me off?" he asks. He hands me a towel, and I start to dry him off. I admire his chest as he is getting dressed. He'd better dry off pretty quickly, since he didn't bring a change of clothes and if people see him walking into school with wet clothes then they are going to be suspicious. _

"_Do you want me to give you a ride?" he asks._

"_No, I have my bike. Besides it's probably best if we're not seen walking into school together anyway" I say._

"_Why can't we be seen together in public at school? I get not telling your parents, but why can't we be together at school?" he asks._

"_Because someone at school will see us together, and they'll tell another kid and it will spread until eventually it gets back to my parents. I promise as soon as we tell my parents, then we can go public at school" I say._

"_I'm looking forward to that. I love you Leigh" he says._

"_I love you too" I say, kissing him. We walk out of the studio together, holding hands. We say goodbye to each other, and he walks back to his beat up old car, whilst I get on my bike. I cycle alongside him for a while but soon he overtakes me. _

_I arrive at school with time to spare, quite surprisingly, since I woke up late and spent a while at the studio, not to mention my sexcapades with Niko but I'm not complaining. It means I get to spend more time with my friends. I spot Jessie and Carly standing in the corner of the canteen chatting and I walk over to them._

"_Hey guys" I say._

"_Hey. Why's your hair all wet?" Jessie asks._

"_Oh I showered before I came to school" I say. _

_She raises an eyebrow that shows she doesn't quite believe me, although I'm not sure why, it's the truth, just not the entire truth. _

"_I was practicing my dance for the winter showcase audition, and I had to shower afterwards" I say, expanding my explanation a little._

"_What are you going to do?" Carly asks._

"_Oh, a contemporary routine to All of The Stars by Ed Sheeran" I say._

"_I bet you'll do great" Jessie says. _

"_Are you planning on auditioning for the showcase?" I ask._

"_I'd like to, but I don't think I'll do contemporary, I'd like to do a jazz routine, although I'm not sure to what song yet, I've got some time to figure that out" she says._

"_Why don't you just dance to All That Jazz?" I ask._

"_It's too predictable for a jazz number and besides I think that one has a better effect as a group number than a solo" she says._

"_That's true" I say. "What about you Carly, any plans on auditioning for the winter showcase?" I ask._

"_I don't know I might sing something in it, maybe do a mashup" she says._

"_Sounds great" I say. "Anyone planning on joining Glee Club?" I ask._

"_I will be, Shay's being forced to by Mom and Kennedy probably will too" Carly says._

"_I'd like to, it sounds like fun. You know how much I love to sing and dance" Jessie says._

_We talk about our planned audition numbers, and Jessie and I show each other moves from our dance routines. Carly teaches us the cup song, and we do a little impromptu song, using cups from the kitchen._

_Soon Eli comes to join us and we talk about our extra-curriculars and our classes for a bit, until Rose arrives and we discuss our weekends, and I tell them all about the new skin grafts I might have to have due to the burn scars I have from the accident that happened when I was younger, where my mom dropped a kettle of boiling water on me. I hate hospitals, I've been in and out of hospital since I was five having skin grafts and I'm done, I don't want to have any more surgeries. But I can't tell this to my mom, she thinks this is what's best for me, and I hate to disappoint her. She feels so guilty about causing me to have these scars &amp; if this helps to ease her guilt then so be it. I have told her a thousand times that I don't blame her; I know it was an accident, but she won't stop feeling guilty. _

_Soon after this, the buzzer goes and we go our separate ways, except for Jessie, Rose and I. I talk to Jessie about our grading exam in Ballet, we're both taking grade 8 this year and we're really nervous because it's the hardest exam that you can take. Jessie stops at her French classroom and Rose and I continue on to our English class._

_On the way there, we talk about glee club and then we get on the topic of boyfriends. I try to be as evasive as possible but I can tell by the look on Rose's face that she knows something's up. I've managed to keep my relationship with Niko a secret for a year, I can't ruin it now. She can't find out until I've told my parents, because as much as I love her, she is my cousin after all, she can't keep a secret and it would be around the whole school within minutes. I'm pretty glad when we get to our classroom, because I don't want to risk Rose asking anymore boy-related questions._

_After school finishes, I make my way over to the auditorium for my glee club audition. I watch Kennedy, and then it is my turn to perform. _

"_Hey Leigh, good to see you" Aunt Quinn says. Unlike the other glee kids (aside from Josh), Aunt Quinn really is my Aunt, although Aunt Rachel is my Aunt in the same way that Aunt Quinn is Aunt to all the other glee kids. _

"_Good to see you too Aunt Quinn" I say._

"_Will Josh be auditioning?" she asks._

"_I doubt it, he might like to sing but I don't think his new crowd of friends would let him forget it if he joined" I say._

"_Is he alright? I've seen him smoking with those kids behind the bleachers and he's been in a lot of teacher's offices for causing trouble considering that he's only been at this school for a week" she says._

"_I honestly don't know, he's been like this for the last three years and we don't know why. I'm sure he'll be fine, eventually. Dad thinks it's just a phase" I say._

"_I hope he's right, I'm worried about him" she says._

"_We all are" I reply._

"_What will you be singing Leigh?" she asks._

"_Try by Pink, I'll be doing a dance routine as well" I say._

"_Great, let's see it" she says. It was a problem that my dance clothes were all wet after my sexcapades this morning, but I managed to cycle home at lunchtime and grab a tank top and some leggings so I could do my routine for my audition. I take up my first position and start to sing__**.**_

**Leigh**_: _

**Oh oh**

**(I rise up from where I am curled into a ball)**

**Ever wonder about what he's doing?**

**(I take my head and spin it in my hands)**

**How it all turned to lies?**

**(I push my hands forwards as if to push someone away)**

**Sometimes I think that it's better to never ask why**

**(I fall to my knees covering my mouth)**

**Where there is desire**

**(I lift my left leg out to the side, spinning)**

**There is gonna be a flame**

**(I shake my hair out, spinning in a circle)**

**Where there is a flame**

**(I run backwards with one leg out and my arms reach outward)**

**Someone's bound to get burned**

**(I collapse backwards with my right leg in the air and my left leg on the floor)**

**But just because it burns**

**(I flick my hair, rolling on to my stomach and then back to my bum, with my head bent back)**

**Doesn't mean you're gonna die**

**(I kick up each of my legs, first the right then the left)**

**You've gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I get to my feet, making pulling movements with my hands as if I am climbing up a rope)**

**Gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I flick my hair, pulling my arms in towards me)**

**You gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I flick my hair again, and then go into a spin, bending my head back with my arms behind it)**

**Eh, eh, eh**

**Funny how the heart can be deceiving**

**(I mime plunging a dagger into my heart, and then fall to my knees then to the floor)**

**More than just a couple times**

**(I kick my leg up and roll over, onto my hands and knees)**

**Why do we fall in love so easy?**

**(I fall to my back, lift myself up into a bridge and then do a back walkover)**

**Even when it's not right**

**(I kick my leg up behind me, and turn, reaching upward in front of me)**

**Where there is desire **

**(I reach my arms out, and lift one leg out behind me, performing a waltz jump)**

**There is gonna be a flame**

**(I lift my arms up so they are covering my face, and then bring them down slowly, wiggling my fingers like the movement of a flame)**

**Where there is a flame**

**(I move backwards on one foot holding my arms out)**

**Someone's bound to get burned**

**(I fall back to the floor)**

**But just because it burns**

**(I lift my legs over my head in a backwards roll type movement, landing with my legs out in a star shape behind me, my arms pressing against the floor and my head back)**

**Doesn't mean you gotta die**

**(I press myself up and crawl slowly across the floor, ending up on my knees)**

**You gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I do the climbing movement with my hands again)**

**Gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I pull my arms in towards me on each "try" with my head tucked inwards)**

**Gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I flick my hair, pulling my arms inwards and performing a spin)**

**Ever worry that it might be ruined**

**(I perform a split leap and then fall to my knees with my hands out in front of me and my head tucked inwards)**

**And does it make you wanna cry?**

**(I rise up so I am on my hands and knees and kick my leg out behind me, and then I spin as I get to my feet)**

**When you're out there doing what you're doing**

**(I move my hands in punching movements, alternating between hands on each word)**

**Are you just getting by?**

**(I perform a high kick)**

**Tell me are you just getting by, by, by**

**(I move backwards, doing 3 consecutive high kicks on each "by")**

**Where there is desire**

**(I do a jump with one leg bent behind me and one leg straight in front of me, and then I bend over grabbing my head)**

**There is gonna be a flame**

**(I lift up, spinning around with windmill arms)**

**Where there is a flame**

**(I do a small hop-like jump, spinning around and landing on my hands and knees)**

**Someone's bound to get burned**

**(I do a head banging type move, and then fall backwards onto my back)**

**But just because it burns**

**(I rise upwards slowly, flicking my hair back and forth when I sit up)**

**Doesn't mean you gotta die**

**(I slide across the floor on my hands and knees)**

**You gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I rise up so I am only kneeling on one knee and make the climbing motion with my hands again)**

**Gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I pull my arms inwards, shaking my hair back and forth)**

**You gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I spin around several times)**

**You gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I do a series of three split leaps across the stage)**

**Gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I punch upwards in the air on each "try")**

**Gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I do a series of three waltz jumps across the stage)**

**You gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I do a series of three waltz jumps)**

**Gotta get up and try, and try and try**

**(I kick out with my leg, moving forward and alternating legs on each "try", alternating hands)**

**You gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(I punch outwards on each "try", alternating hands)**

**You gotta get up and try, and try, and try**

**(To finish my routine, I perform a series of round offs, ending in the splits)**

"_So what did you think?" I ask, knowing that I've performed well anyway, but it seems polite to ask._

"_Your vocals were pretty good, they could be a little improved but we can work on that. Your dancing was extraordinary, truly, I wish I could dance like that, you'll definitely have to choreograph some of our routines" Aunt Rachel says._

"_So I'm in?" I ask._

"_Definitely, we'll see you at rehearsal in the choir room on Friday at four" Aunt Quinn says. _

"_Thank you. I'll try and see if I can talk Josh into joining" I say._

"_That would be good, then we'd have all the Puckerman kids" Aunt Quinn says. I say goodbye to her and Aunt Rachel before walking off the stage._

_I go back to my locker, and find Niko waiting there for me._

"_Hey babe" he says kissing me. _

"_Hey" I say._

"_Do you want to come have dinner at my house? Mom always cooks enough to feed an army" he says._

"_I'd love to, but I can't, I'm helping my dad with dance classes, and then after that I'm practicing my showcase audition" I say._

"_Any chance you have a day off this week?" he asks._

"_I'm not teaching Friday, my dad's helping people who have exams coming up prepare for those, so there aren't any official classes" I say._

"_Do you want to come for dinner Friday then?" he asks._

"_That would be great" I say, giving him a quick peck on the lips._

"_Would you like a lift to the studio, it's on my way home" Niko says._

"_I'd love to, but I've got my bike and it won't fit in the back of your car" I say._

"_We can fold the back seats down, it will be fine" he says._

"_Okay, I'd love a lift" I say. He takes my hand and we walk out towards his car together. I love moments like this, where we can be completely open about our relationship. It makes me wish that I was brave enough to tell my dad about us, and makes me hate myself that I haven't be able to._

**Hamish's POV**

"**Hami, come on, you need to get up for school!" my mom calls, reaching through the haze I'm currently in. I should have known it was a bad idea to take heroin before I went to bed, it makes it very difficult to wake up, and I keep drifting in and out of sleep.**

"**Coming!" I slur, sluggishly making my way over to my wardrobe. I pull out a blue plaid shirt, a pair of grey cargo shorts, a pair of pink converses plus my rainbow sweatband to cover the track marks on my arms, before making my way downstairs. I start making myself a coffee as soon as I get into the kitchen, in the hope that it will wake me up a little.**

"**You alright Hami?" Mom asks.**

"**Why wouldn't I be?" I ask.**

"**You just look tired; your pupils are kind of small. You're not using again are you?" my Mom asks panicked.**

"**No, of course not" I lie. "Why would I after what happened to Nate? I don't want to end up like that" I say.**

**Nate was a friend of mine, he died last year. We had both been using heroin, and I passed out. When I woke up, I was told that Nate had been hit by a car and died. My parents were told about my drug problem and I was put into rehab. I managed to quit using for a while afterwards, but I couldn't stand the withdrawal. Heroin withdrawal is about the worst thing a person can go through, I couldn't stop thinking about it, I was sweating all the time, I was in pain basically everywhere, I couldn't sleep, I had a fever, I got tremors &amp; I threw up all the time. I made it through rehab, just about, but as soon as I got home, the cravings were so bad that I just couldn't stand it anymore and I had to have a fix. Ever since then, I've been hiding the fact that I've been using again because I can't go back there and go through all of that again. **

**It makes me feel sick that I can't stop this. I know that using heroin is bad, and that it will probably kill me one day, but when you're an addict, you don't care about all of that, you just want to know where you're next fix is coming from. I find it difficult to just get through school, because I tend to drop off in classes, plus I can't exactly get my fix during the school day. The teachers watch me like a hawk because they all know about my rehab stint and are watching out for any signs of relapse, so I have to be very careful. I've managed to cut down on my use a little, I used to go out to the bleachers in any break I had to smoke/inject it, with the other addicts, mostly potheads but now I only take it before school and during lunch, which is a big step forward for me.**

"**You alright Hami?" Mom says, breaking me out of my thoughts.**

"**Yeah I'm fine, I was just thinking about Nate" I admit, truthfully.**

"**You were lucky, you know, both of you could have died that night" she says.**

"**I know, I just feel guilty that I couldn't do anything, stop him from getting hit by that car" I say.**

"**Honey, don't blame yourself, it was an accident. Besides the two of you were so high that night I doubt you would have been able to do anything. The best thing you can do is stay sober in his memory. He would have wanted that for you" she says.**

**I feel extremely guilty when she says that. If Nate was alive, we'd both be doing heroin together, more than likely so I don't think he would want me to be sober, but it still makes me feel guilty, that Nate is dead whilst I'm alive, and squandering away my life with heroin, when I should be making the most of the fact that I'm alive.**

"**Where's Dad?" I ask, searching the room for him.**

"**He left early this morning, he's doing a couple of small venues in New York this week" she says. **

"**When will he be back?" I ask.**

"**Late on Friday night probably" she responds. My dad is away a lot, either on tour, or doing small venues, or doing TV interviews promoting his music. It's kind of good for me, because it's one less parent to hide everything from. It isn't a problem hiding the drugs themselves, there's a loose panel in my wardrobe, but it is difficult to hide the effects of the heroin now that my mom knows what the signs are. **

"**I'm going to need you to help out in the store tonight, one of the girls called in sick" she says.**

"**Fine" I say. My mom inherited my Grandpa's piano store and sometimes I fill in for people when they're sick, and I often work shifts there at the weekend. The work's kind of dull, but it makes me money, most of which I spend on heroin. Yet another reason to feel bad about my habit, it sucks all of my money away. I just don't know what to do, I mean I tried rehab and it's not like that worked well for me. I didn't even want to go, but it wasn't my choice, my mom and dad had me committed without my consent, it was court mandated since I was using illegal drugs.**

"**How's school going?" she asks. She hands me a bowl of cereal and some milk, and I pour the milk over the cereal and start to shovel it down.**

"**Fine" I mutter. It's not really going fine, I'm failing almost everything, since I practically sleepwalk through most of my classes but I can't tell Mom that otherwise she'll know that I'm still using heroin. I manage to do enough to blag my way through all the tests, so that I don't have to get Mom to sign any failing tests but my overall grades are measly, I only just scrape passes. **

"**What extra-curriculars are you going to do this year?" she asks.**

"**I don't do extra-curriculars" I say.**

"**You didn't do extra-curriculars last year because you spent all of your time doing drugs, but I thought you were turning over a new slate this year and that includes joining in on after school activities, and trying to get your grades up from last year.**

"**I don't think I'm academically eligible to join any clubs yet" I say.**

"**If you have at least a C+ then you'll be fine, besides if you join Glee Club then I can almost guarantee your grades will go up, because everyone helps each other out to make sure that you all stay academically eligible" she says.**

"**Glee Club?" I ask.**

"**I've told you about Glee Club, it's a club I was in when I was at McKinley, we were a group of singers and we'd perform at competitions" she says.**

"**Oh right, yeah I remember. Maybe I will join" I say. All I want is to find something to make me happy, something other than heroin. My mom was pretty lucky they let her in to Glee really, because she's not the best singer in the world, both me and my father are better than she is, but she does always talk about how much fun she had, so it might be just what I need. Somewhere where I fit in, and can make friends who are a good influence on me rather than the other drug addicts who I usually hang out with. Maybe then I can finally find a reason to quit, and hopefully a boyfriend. I've been out as gay since I was 15 and started figuring it out a few years before that, but I've never had a real boyfriend. Sure I've kissed guys, even been on a couple of dates, but no one who I could really call a boyfriend. I always had a bit of a crush on Nate, but he was straight, so nothing was ever going to happen there. It would be nice if by joining Glee I could actually meet a nice guy, who really likes me.**

"**I think it would be really good for you, music can be great therapy" Mom says.**

"**I don't need therapy; I had enough of that in rehab!" I snap. I didn't mean to snap at her, heroin gives me crazy mood swings, besides which my association with rehab isn't exactly the greatest, considering I'm an addict and I had to go through a whole month with no drugs.**

"**Okay well just promise me you'll think about it?" she asks.**

"**I will" I say, not saying that I'm pretty sure I've made up my mind that I'm going to join. We don't really talk much whilst we finish our breakfast, but that's no surprise we never really talk much. We weren't all that close to begin with, but ever since the incident with Nate, and my little trip to rehab, the wedge between us has been driven even further. It's like we don't know what to say to each other anymore.**

**I'm quite glad when breakfast is over and I can just jump in my car and drive to school. Technically you're not supposed to drive with drugs in your system but I've never paid attention to that rule and I highly doubt that the heroin I took last night is still having an effect on me. **

**When I arrive at school, I head to the bleachers where all of the "stoners and drug addicts" as the kids at school like to call us, meet before school to get our daily fix. It's kind of dangerous to be taking illegal substances on school premises but we need this to get through the day so we don't care.**

"**Smoke?" Kevin asks, offering me a marijuana cigarette.**

"**No thanks, I brought my own" I say, opening my stash of heroin. I take out aluminium foil and fold it in half and then straightened to make a sort of pipe with a flat surface. Then I place the powdery substance on the pipe at the end closest to me. I take a cigarette lighter out of my pocket and heat the surface of the aluminium foil and as the heroin starts to boil, I place the foil in my mouth and inhale the beautiful vapour until it is all gone. None of us speak to each other really, we just gather here and smoke our drugs until they are all gone and then we go our separate ways. It's kind of sad really, I used to have so many friends, but once I started using, my only friend became Nate and they he died, so I've taken to smoking with these guys who I know barely anything about because we never speak, we just smoke.**

**When the buzzer goes to signal the start of lessons, I stumble into school and over to the biology lab where I have my first lesson. The entire lesson washes over me, I couldn't even tell you what we did, I kept falling asleep and I don't think I took a note of anything but I didn't really care. The wonderful feeling of happiness that heroin gives me when I take it is worth it and I really don't care much about school when I've taken it. Heck I don't care much about anything.**

**I feel as if in a trance for the rest of the day, as if I'm watching the events happening to me from outside of my own body. I don't even really know where I'm going when I make my way to the cloakroom to grab my guitar and then over to the auditorium after school. I'm vaguely aware of other people singing, but it all completely goes over my head. **

**When it's my turn, I walk over to the stage, and take a seat on a stool in the middle of the stage, resting my guitar on my lap. **

"**Hamish right?" Aunt Quinn asks.**

"**That's right" I respond, only slurring slightly. The effects might be wearing off a little, but who am I kidding? I take the stuff so much that the effects never really wear off. **

"**Are you okay?" she asks, looking concerned. I hate that concerned look; I get it all the time from everyone who knows about my drug problem, which is surprisingly few people actually. I told people that I was out of school for a month last year because my dad took me out on tour with him instead of the fact that I was in rehab. Aunt Quinn knows, but that's only because she's a member of the faculty and they've all been told to watch for signs of relapse, which thankfully they haven't spotted yet. Aunt Rachel might know since she's married to Uncle Finn but I have no idea.**

"**I'm fine! Why does everyone have to ask me that all the time?!" I yell.**

"**Calm down Hamish, I didn't mean to make you upset" she says, sounding a little suspicious. I hope she's not catching on to me.**

"**Sorry, I guess I'm just tired" I say.**

"**What will you be singing Hamish?" Aunt Rachel asks.**

"**Tears Dry On Their Own by Amy Winehouse" I say. She's kind of my idol, which is sort of poetic when you think about it, considering our shared addiction history. I don't want to end up like that, but I have no idea how to stop. Okay that's a lie, I know how to stop, but I can't stand the withdrawal, I can't go through that again. **

"**Let's hear it" she says. I start to sing softly, whilst strumming my fingers on the guitar. My version of the song is slightly more slowed down than the original.**

_Hamish:_

_All can ever be to you,_

_Is a darkness that we knew,_

_And this regret I've got accustomed to,_

_Once it was so right,_

_When we were at our high, _

_Waiting for you in the hotel at night,_

_I knew I hadn't met my match, _

_But every moment we could snatch,_

_I don't know why I got so attached,_

_It's my responsibility,_

_And you don't owe nothing to me,_

_But to walk away I have no capacity_

_He walks away,_

_The sun goes down,_

_He takes the day but I'm grown,_

_And in your way, in this blue shade,_

_My tears dry on their own_

_I don't understand,_

_Why do I stress a man, _

_When there's so many bigger things at hand,_

_We could have never had it all,_

_We had to hit a wall,_

_So this is inevitable withdrawal,_

_Even if I stop wanting you,_

_A perspective pushes true,_

_I'll be some next man's other man soon, _

_I shouldn't play myself again,_

_I should just be my own best friend,_

_Not f**k myself in the head with stupid men,_

_He walks away,_

_The sun goes down,_

_He takes the day but I'm grown,_

_And in your way, in this blue shade,_

_My tears dry on their own,_

_So we are history,_

_Your shadow covers me_

_The sky above ablaze,_

_He walks away, _

_The sun goes down,_

_He takes the day but I'm grown,_

_And in your way, in your blue shade_

_My tears dry on their own,_

_I wish I could say no regrets, _

_And no emotional debts,_

_Cause as we kiss goodbye the sun sets_

_So we are history, _

_The shadow covers me,_

_The sky above ablaze that lonely lovers see,_

_He walks away, _

_The sun goes down,_

_He takes the day but I'm grown_

_And in your way, in your blue shade_

_He walks away,_

_The sun goes down,_

_He takes the day but I'm grown, _

_And in your way,_

_In this deep shade_

_My tears dry_

_The sun goes down,_

_He takes the day but I'm grown,_

_And in your way,_

_In this deep shade_

_My tears dry_

**I finish the song and realise that I'm crying. The song does mean a lot to me, not because of the meaning of the song, but because of Amy Winehouse, for obvious reasons, I connect a lot with her story but I don't think that's why I'm crying. It's more likely the heroin I took at lunch playing havoc with my emotions.**

"**Are you okay?" Aunt Quinn asks, noticing me crying.**

"**I'm fine" I say wiping my eyes with the backs of my hands.**

"**You have a lovely voice and you definitely managed to put a lot of emotion into your song" Aunt Rachel says.**

"**Thank you" I say, trying, and failing to stop crying.**

"**Are you sure you're okay?" she asks.**

"**I'm fine" I snap. I'm probably not doing a good job of convincing anyone that I'm not on drugs, but I can't help the way heroin makes me act. **

"**You're in, we'll see you in the choir room on Friday at four for the first glee rehearsal" Aunt Quinn says. I say goodbye to both of them and walk off the stage. As I turn around the corner from the auditorium, I run into Remy Lynn, quite literally. **

"**I'm sorry, I didn't see you" I apologise.**

"**No problem, I get it, you're in a rush to get home" he says. I wish that was it, I really barely saw him; I'm in such a daze from my last heroin dose. **

"**You just audition for glee club?" he asks.**

"**Yeah, how'd you know?" I ask.**

"**I guessed based on the fact that you're holding a guitar, and you came from the direction of the auditorium. I'm in Glee too, I just auditioned earlier today" he says.**

"**I guess we'll get to spend a lot of time together then" I say. He's pretty cute, Remy and from the little I know of him seems sweet enough. The problem is I don't know if he likes guys or not, but it shouldn't be too hard to find out. Maybe I should try to get to know him a little better.**

"**Yeah, I'd like that" he says. I turn and start to walk away, but Remy grabs my arm, the one with the rainbow sweatband that covers my track marks.**

"**What are you doing?!" I scream pulling away from him. I'm always so paranoid that someone's going to pull off my sweatband and discover my little secret.**

"**I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" he asks, sounding concerned.**

"**No, I just overreacted" I say, trying to calm myself down.**

"**I was just wondering if you'd like to go for a coffee with me sometime?" he asks.**

"**Is this a date?" I ask.**

"**No, just friends. I figure it might be good to make friends with some other people in Glee Club" he says. I can't deny I feel a little disappointed when he says it wouldn't be a date, I'm still trying to figure out if he likes me like that way and it would be a lot easier to do that if it actually was a date. Still I'll take what I can get.**

"**Sure I'd love that, when?" I ask.**

"**Next Saturday?" he suggests.**

"**Sounds good" I say, smiling. **

"**I'd better go, I'm going to be late for baseball practice otherwise" he says.**

"**I'll see you tomorrow?" I ask.**

"**If you come to Uncle Mike's dance studio before school then you'll find me there, practicing" he says.**

"**You dance? What type?" I ask.**

"**Lots of different types, I love to dance. Mainly street but I do ballet as well, don't laugh, it's really good for learning other styles of dance" he says.**

"**I wouldn't laugh, I do ballet too, and jazz, and swing too actually" I say.**

"**Well maybe you could teach me some jazz, and I could teach you some street?" he suggests.**

"**That sounds like fun" I say.**

"**Okay then I'll see you tomorrow, I'm going to be really late for practice if I don't go now" he says.**

"**See you tomorrow" I say. He turns and walks away and I watch as he goes. I hope he likes me, because I think I like him. But I have to be careful, he must never find out about my little drug habit, otherwise he wouldn't even want to be friends with me let alone anything more. I walk out of school to my usual spot behind the bleachers and smoke more heroin before driving home (terrible, but I drive drugged up most of the time) and I hate myself for doing it, but I just can't stop.**

_Ruby's POV_

"_RUBY! I've called for you five times now, if you don't get up then you're not getting any breakfast" Mom yells. I sigh, dragging myself out of bed. I quickly shower and then dress in my Cheerios uniform. I don't technically need to wear my Cheerios uniform for anything other than practice but I always wear mine because it shows all the other kids how popular I am, and that they should respect me. I pull my hair up into a high ponytail, and slide my feet into my trainers. I wear my trousers under my uniform since it's autumn and getting kind of cold, and my jacket on top. I grab my bag with my school books in it from under my desk. _

"_Hey Mom, Dad, Kira" I say, as I walk into the kitchen._

"_Ruby, sit" Dad says, sternly._

"_Am I in trouble?" I ask._

"_You're failing Math" Dad states._

"_Where did you hear that from?" I ask, chewing my hair nervously._

"_Well aside from the fact that your sophomore year report card had a failing grade in math, your teacher called to say that all the homework you've handed in this year has had a failing grade, and that you failed the review test of the work you did last year, and didn't get us to sign it" Dad says._

"_What are you going to do about it?" I ask snarkily._

"_Don't take that tone with me Ruby, you know that you can't fail any of your subjects if you want to get into college, and I'm not going to let that happen, so starting today, you will be having a tutor in Math" he says._

"_What? I don't want a tutor; I can catch up on my own!" I insist._

"_Math has always been your weak point Ruby, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to admit that you need some help here" Mom says._

"_I don't need Math to be an actress" I say._

"_True, but you do need Math to get a good score on your SATs to get into college" Dad says._

"_Look if I promise I'll work harder in Math, and then can we drop this whole tutor thing?" I ask._

"_Can you stop chewing your hair sweetheart; it's not good for you?" Mom says. I drop my hair from my mouth, I hadn't even realised I was still chewing it, but I always do when I'm nervous. _

"_No, we're not risking you failing this year" Dad says._

"_So why doesn't Kira just tutor me, rather than you paying for someone?" I ask._

"_Because Kira needs to concentrate on her own work" Mom says._

"_I wouldn't mind tutoring Rubes" Kira interjects. I shoot her a grateful look. Kira and I get on really well, better than most siblings but I suppose it's because we're so close in age._

"_It's a nice offer Kira, but we want you to focus on your own work" Mom says._

"_So who exactly is this tutor going to be? I assume you already called someone without asking me whether I was okay with this" I say._

"_Of course I did. His name is Freddie Robinson; he's a junior as well. He's on the brainiacs with you, I think. His sister said that he gets straight A's in Math, so he should be the perfect tutor" Dad says._

"_Are you kidding me? Freddie Robinson? Awkward, geeky, can't talk to girls Freddie Robinson?" I ask._

"_I think that's the one, I can't say I've ever met him" Dad says._

"_Please get me another tutor" I say._

"_It's already settled, he's coming over this afternoon" Dad says._

"_I don't understand how you think he's going to speak to me, I don't think I've ever seen him say a complete sentence in front of a girl" I say. Admittedly he is kind of cute, but he's still a dork!_

"_Well maybe if you're nice to him, he might relax around you, you can be a little intimidating sometimes" Dad says._

"_Fine, I'll be nice to the dork" I say, exasperatedly. "Wait did you say you spoke to his sister? Why would you speak to her and not to his mom or dad?" I ask._

"_Do you know anything about this kid?" Dad asks._

"_No, only that he's a computer geek, he loves superheroes, he always has his head in a book and I think he's a Buddhist" I say. "Oh and he's the most socially awkward kid I think I've ever met" I add._

"_I spoke to his sister because that's who he lives with. His parents died when he was a baby apparently" Dad says. That makes me feel really awful for asking the question, and a little bad for being so down on the kid._

"_She must be a lot older than him if they live together alone" I comment._

"_She's in her late twenties, about nine years older than he is, but I can't say I know much more than that. We didn't talk for that long, and I didn't want to pry. Anyway, I asked him to come over for about 3.30 so you'd have some time to change and maybe get started on some homework after school" Dad says._

"_Fine, can we talk about something else now?" I ask._

"_Sure, what are you guys doing for extra-curriculars this year?" Mom asks._

"_Well I'm still doing the stupid brainiacs, even though I don't see why I have to, I'll still be in Cheerios and I'm in several dance clubs" I say._

"_I already do Cheerios and soccer, and dance" Kira says._

"_Have you thought about joining Glee Club?" Mom asks._

"_That's the club you and dad were in with Shay's parents' right?" I ask._

"_Well not just Shay's parents, all our other friends were in Glee Club as well but yes. We'd perform at competitions and just generally have fun performing together" Mom says._

"_I'd like to, the stories you and dad tell us about it make it seem fun, but there isn't a glee club at McKinley anymore" Kira says._

"_Ah but there is, your Aunt Quinn and Aunt Rachel are restarting the Glee Club, auditions are being held this week" Dad says._

"_I'd love to join. You get to dance right?" Kira says happily._

"_Yeah you get to dance" Dad says laughing a little. "What about you Rubes?" he asks me._

"_Yeah, I'll join" I say, shrugging._

"_Wow, I was expecting a little more resistance from the two of you" Mom says._

"_Why?" I ask._

"_Well because you're both Cheerios, and Glee Club doesn't exactly do wonders for your popularity" she says._

"_Oh please, we're popular so whatever we do is cool" I say. I finish off my breakfast, and grab my shoulder bag from under my chair._

"_Come on Kira, let's go, I promised Shay we'd meet her before school" I say. I grab my car keys from the side and we walk out to the car together. My car is a second hand red mini cooper, which Kira and I will share. My mom and dad share a car as well as a way to save money on gas._

"_Which one is Freddie Robinson again?" Kira asks after she gets into the car._

"_He's the kind of cute dork from brainiacs; you know the really tall one with the blonde hair, kind of tanned, green eyes, slightly crooked nose, glasses? He wears all those nerdy superhero t-shirts" I say._

"_Oh yeah I think I know the one you mean. Wait did you just say "Kind of cute"? You like him, don't you?" Kira asks._

"_No, are you kidding me? He's so nervous around girls that he can't even look me in the eye most of the time" I say._

"_Yeah, and you find him adorable, I can just tell" Kira says, smiling._

"_Whatever" I say, rolling my eyes. "So do you have a boyfriend yet?" I ask._

"_Nope, not yet. Maybe this year I'll manage to find a boy who's not a douche to go out with" she says._

"_You do attract some awful guys" I say, laughing a little._

"_Hey!" Kira says, hitting me._

"_Oi, driving here!" I protest. "You can't deny it's true" I say._

"_The last guy I went out with was lovely" she says._

"_And what else was he?" I ask._

"_Gay" she sighs. "But you don't exactly have a great track record either, all the guys you've dated have been bad boys, the last one crashed Dad's car" she says._

"_Good point well taken. Maybe we should both try and date guys outside of our usual types" I say._

"_Meaning that you should give it a chance with Freddie Robinson, I wholeheartedly agree" Kira says._

"_Ummm no" I say._

"_Deny it all you want, you never say that a guy is "kind of cute" unless you like him" she says._

"_I do not like Freddie Robinson!" I insist._

"_You know it gets less and less convincing the more you deny it" she says, smirking._

"_Can we talk about something else?" I ask._

"_Fine but promise me you'll give me all the details about how your tutoring session with the "kind of cute dork" goes, I'm going to be practicing at the studio after school" she says._

"_Fine, but I really don't see what you're getting so excited about. We're literally just going to study" I say._

"_Yeah, 'study'" Kira says, winking. I sigh; I'm never going to convince her that I really don't have feelings for Freddie Robinson. I mean he is kind of cute I guess, and I suppose his nerdy &amp; awkward qualities could be considered kind of charming, but only if you're into that sort thing._

_For the rest of the drive over, we talk about school, and our newest cheerios routine &amp; our dance classes, basically all the things we usually talk about, and I try to divert anymore questions about me and Freddie from Kira, of which there are many. She says it's her prerogative to tease me about my crush (although I still deny that I have or ever have had a crush on Freddie, just because I think he's kind of, and I stress, kind of cute). _

_Shay isn't there yet when we arrive at school, so whilst Kira and I wait for her, we turn my IPod on, and just muck about; making up dance routines to whatever random song comes on. We like to do this; it tests our improvisation skills and helps us practice choreographing routines at the same time. _

_Shay arrives a little while later. At first we talk about our weekends, and complain about the amount of studying that we all have to do to maintain our near perfect GPA's. Then Shay gets to complaining about the latest thing her parents have done to annoy her, I mean I love Shay, she's one of my best friends, but man does she complain a lot! This time, it's that her dad is forcing her to join her mom's new glee club. Kira and I both tell her, as we told our parents this morning that we're willing to join as well._

_Shay arrived quite late, so no sooner has she arrived than we have to go to our lessons. Kira has Math and Shay has Biology, so they head off in the same direction, whilst I have to go the opposite way for English. I hate that even though Shay, Kira and I are all juniors, our class schedules are almost completely different, so we barely ever have class together._

_I arrive at my lesson, taking my place in the second row. The rest of the morning is spent working hard, which I absolutely detest. I mean I know I have to, to get into college and all, but sometimes I wish I could be more like Kira. Kira just glides through life so effortlessly, managing to get good grades and excel at whatever she does with ease. I wish I could do that, everything always seems so much harder for me than it does for her._

_At break time, I head over to the auditorium where Glee auditions are being held. Shay rushes out so quickly she doesn't even see me, probably heading off to see her boyfriend Danny. Between us, he's the biggest douche on the planet, but if I told her that she wouldn't listen to me anyway. It's only a matter of time before he breaks her heart, but she'll have to learn that the hard way. At least Freddie doesn't seem like the type who would break my heart like all the other guys I've dated. I shake my head, why am I thinking about Freddie right now? I compose myself, banishing my thoughts of Freddie Robinson and walking out onto the stage._

"_Hey Aunt Rachel, Aunt Quinn" I say._

"_Ruby Chang? I was not expecting to see you here today" Aunt Rachel says._

"_Why not? I love to sing, I'm a killer dancer and you could use someone like me" I say._

"_No, I just meant that you're a cheerio, most of you care more about your popularity" she says._

"_Well if anyone tries to slushie me, I'll kick them in a very painful place" I say, making them both laugh._

"_What will you be singing today Ruby?" Aunt Quinn asks._

"_I'm With You by Avril Lavigne" I say._

"_Great song, let's hear it" she says. Usually I would dance, and I am a great dancer, but I wanted to show off how good my singing was this time around, so I simply take a stool, drag it into the centre of the stage, sit down and start to sing._

**Ruby:**

**I'm standing on a bridge**

**I'm waiting in the dark**

**I thought that you'd be here by now**

**There's nothing but the rain**

**No footsteps on the ground**

**I'm listening but there's no sound**

**Isn't anyone trying to find me?**

**Won't somebody come take me home?**

**It's a damn cold night**

**Trying to figure out this life**

**Won't you take me by the hand?**

**Take me somewhere new**

**I don't know who you are**

**But I….I'm with you**

**I'm with you**

**I'm looking for a place**

**I'm searching for a face**

**Is anybody here I know**

**Cause nothing's going right**

**And everything's a mess**

**And no one likes to be alone**

**Isn't anyone trying to find me?**

**Won't somebody come to take me home?**

**It's a damn cold night**

**Trying to figure out this life**

**Won't you take me by the hand?**

**Take me somewhere new**

**I don't know who you are**

**But I….I'm with you**

**I'm with you**

**Oh why is everything so confusing**

**Maybe I'm just out of my mind**

**Yeah-ha-yaa, yeah-hah-yah, yeah-hah-yah, yeah-hah-yah, yeah!**

**It's a damn cold night**

**Trying to figure out this life**

**Won't you take me by the hand?**

**Take me somewhere new**

**I don't know who you are**

**But I…I'm with you**

**I'm with you**

**Take me by the hand**

**Take me somewhere new**

**I don't know who you are**

**But I….I'm with you**

**I'm with you**

**Take me by the hand**

**Take me somewhere new**

**I don't know who you are**

**But I…I'm with you**

**I'm with you**

**I'm with you….**

_I finish my song and smile over at Aunt Rachel and Aunt Quinn. "So what did you think?" I ask._

"_It was lovely, we could use a few more female altos to round out the sound of the club" Aunt Rachel says._

"_You're in Ruby, we'll see you at practice on Friday, and it will be at four in the choir room" Aunt Quinn says. I walk off the stage and spot Freddie Robinson walking towards the wings. I quickly duck behind the curtains so that he doesn't see me. He doesn't look my way so I don't think he did. I should just walk away but my curiosity gets the better of me and I stay, hiding in the curtain as I listen to him sing. He has a lovely voice; I didn't even know he could sing. The song clearly means a lot to him, I can hear the emotion in his voice._

_As soon as it's over, I hurry out before he reaches the wings so that he doesn't see I've been listening in to his performance. I grab my books from my locker and rush to my next class. I try not to think about Freddie for the rest of the day, but he keeps invading my thoughts, I barely concentrate on my classes. After hearing him sing, I'm kind of looking forward to our tutoring session, although I have to admit that my reluctance for math tutoring is probably more about the fact that I hate math than about who my tutor is, although I really don't understand why it is that he can barely get a full sentence out in front of a girl._

_After school is over, I head back home to prepare for my tutoring session. I want to look nice, so I choose a pair of black skinny jeans, a tight fitting black off the shoulder top, my leather jacket, a set of silver bangles, my ruby ring and a gold strand necklace. I have about a half hour to wait before Freddie shows up, so I make a head start on my homework whilst I wait. All the teachers haven't hesitated to remind us that Junior year is very important and they also haven't hesitated to pile on the homework, I have loads, and it's only the second week of school. I have a window seat in my bedroom, so I sit there to do my homework, watching out the window to see when Freddie arrives._

_He does, a little while later, in a small beat up red car that looks like it passed its best years before Freddie was even born! I don't want to look like I'm too eager, so I wait until Mom calls me before heading downstairs._

"_Hey" I say, smiling at him._

"_Hey" he says. He smiles but he ducks his head shyly. I don't know why he's shy around me; we have known each other since freshman year, even if we haven't exactly talked. But he seems to be this way around everyone, girls especially. _

"_Come in" I say. "We'll be in my room, is that okay Mom?" I ask._

"_Just leave the door open" Mom says. "Do you want anything to drink?" she asks._

"_I'm okay, how about you Freddie?" I ask._

"_I'm fine, we'll probably get drinks when we take a break" he says. I take his hand; he looks a little shocked, but accepts it and lead him upstairs. I leave the door open slightly behind us, as promised, even though it's not as if Freddie and I are going to be doing anything like that._

"_So what are you doing at the moment?" Freddie asks._

"_Geometry, it sucks!" I say, collapsing down onto the window seat. "I was trying to do my Geometry homework and I couldn't understand anything, it's like Math is a whole different language!" _

"_Well let's see if I can help" he says. I take out my Geometry homework and we start working on it. He's actually a pretty good tutor, he doesn't get angry when I don't understand things, which is a lot of the time (not all Asians are good at Math!) and he explains things in a way that makes it easy for me to understand. I'm not saying he works miracles, but after about half an hour or so, I'm getting a little better._

"_You're really not that bad, you just don't have a Math brain and you have to find a way to make it work for you" he says._

"_You know you've got further with me in a half hour than all my teachers have since I started high school?" I ask._

"_What can I say? I'm good at Math, and I'm everyone's go to Math tutor, so I've had a lot of practice. Now how about we try some trig?" he says._

"_Not trig! I hate trig" I moan. "Can we not just take that break now?" I ask._

"_No, let's try some trig and then after that, I promise we can take a break" he says. I sigh, but reluctantly take out my Trig work. We spend a little while longer working on trig, and whilst we work, we start to talk. Freddie has really started to relax, and open up a little more to me. He talks a lot about his sister; I can tell that he's really close to her. He also talks about his grandparents, especially his grandmother who helped him discover his love of reading. He talks very little about his childhood, he only mentions that he's from Florida and that he and his sister lived with his aunt until he was 8, and then they moved in with his grandparents for reasons he doesn't explain, before he and his sister moved to Ohio when he was 9. _

_We get into a discussion about books which lasts for a while, Freddie seems to light up when he talks about books, it's really endearing. I don't love reading as much as he does, but I do enjoy it and we have a lot to talk about. He wants to be a book publisher, which I have to say seems like the perfect job for him. We talk about music and our favourite songs and artists as well and soon enough my trig work is done. He doesn't like dancing, which should be a deal breaker for me, since I love it so much, but it's not. Talking to him today and him helping me with my math has confirmed that I really do like him, a lot. We talk a little about academic decathlon as well, as we are both on the team. We even talk about his Buddhist beliefs, and whilst they aren't mine, I think it's great that we can talk so openly about things like this. _

"_I think it's time for that break you wanted" he says._

"_How long is my dad paying for you to be here?" I ask, not that I want him to leave but I'm just curious._

"_The longer I'm here the more money I get. Besides I'm enjoying hanging out with you" he says, and I laugh gently at the first part of his comment. _

"_How about a song?" he suggests, bringing out his guitar from behind him. I didn't even notice he'd brought it._

"_Who brings their guitar to a math tutoring session?" I ask._

"_I bring my guitar near enough everywhere, you never know when you're going to need it" he says._

"_Dork" I say hitting him playfully, but I smile so that he knows I'm joking. _

"_What would you like to sing? Ladies' choice" he says._

_I think about it for a few minutes before giving him my answer. "Fly Me To The Moon" I say._

"_I would not have taken you for a Sinatra fan" he says, smiling._

"_I like to revise to swing music, it's relaxing" I say._

"_Well okay then" he says, starting to play the song._

**Ruby:**

**Fly me to the moon**

**Let me play among the stars**

**Let me see what spring is like **

**On-a Jupiter and Mars**

**In other words hold my hand**

**In other words, baby, kiss me**

**Freddie:**

**Fill my heart with song**

**And let me sing forever more**

**You are all I long for**

**All I worship and adore**

**In other words, please be true**

**In other words, I love you**

**(He offers me his hand and we start to dance around the room, even though as he's put his guitar down, there's no music, and softly sing the last verse together)**

**Both:**

**Fill my heart with song**

**Let me sing forever more**

**You are all I long for**

**All I worship and adore**

**In other words, please be true**

**In other words, in other words**

**(He spins me around and I fall to the floor and he picks up his guitar)**

**I love (plays three chords on his guitar) you**

_I don't hesitate, when the song finishes, I lean forward and kiss him, and he kisses me back, which means he must like me right? We kiss for several minutes, and I place my hand on his chest, deepening the kiss. Suddenly, abruptly, he pushes me away from him._

"_I can't do this, I'm sorry" he says, grabbing his guitar and running out the door and down the stairs. I follow him and stop in front of the door. _

"_I'm sorry; I didn't mean to pressure you. I wasn't trying to make you have sex with me, I'm not that type of girl" I say._

"_It's not your problem okay, it's mine" he says._

"_Maybe we could talk about it? It might help?" I ask._

"_No!" he snaps, pulling away from me. "Look I didn't mean to lose my temper I'm sorry" he apologises immediately when he sees my face. _

"_Will I still see you next week?" I ask._

"_You'll see me at school, and yes I'll still be your tutor" he says._

"_Are we going to talk about the kiss?" I ask._

"_I like you and you like me, I think we'd best just leave it at that" he says._

"_I'll see you at school" I say._

"_I'll see you at school" he says and walks out the door without looking back at me. I can't help but wonder why I freaked him out so much. _

_I'm still thinking about it when Kira arrives home from dance practice. She hounds me basically as soon as she gets in the door, desperate for information about my tutoring session with Freddie. _

"_How did it go?" she asks._

"_It was great, we were talking, bonding, he actually really helped me with my Math and we sang together. But then after the song we kissed" I say._

"_How is that bad? That is great!" she says._

"_It was, and then I attempted to turn the kiss into making out, which is where I thought it was going and he totally freaked out on me, and I have no idea why" I say._

"_Did you ask him?" she asks._

"_He wouldn't tell me" I say._

"_So he's not ready to talk about it, you should just be patient &amp; when he feels ready he'll talk to you about it" she says._

"_He did say he liked me" I say, smiling._

"_Then you don't need to worry about it" she says._

"_How do you always know what to say?" I ask._

"_Smart Asian genes" she says, making me laugh._

"_Seriously, you're the best sister ever" I say, giving her a hug._

"_Right back at you Rubes" she says._

**Jessie's POV**

_Flashback_

"_Nana Nancy come play!" I call down the street kicking my ball. _

"_It's alright sweetheart, I'll just watch from here" she calls out the window of the kitchen. I shrug and keep kicking my ball down the street. I kick a little too hard and it lands in the road. I check that there are no cars coming and run out into the street to pick up my ball. _

"_Jessie! Jessie watch out!" Nana calls, running out of the house. I can't see what she's looking at. I turn around ready to walk away when I finally see the silver corolla approaching, but I can't do anything to stop it. I scream, loudly, and shut my eyes but that doesn't stop me feeling the burning rush of pain as the car hits me and I collapse on the road, my vision turning completely back._

"_JESSIE! JESSIE!" I vaguely hear my grandmother call my name before I become completely unaware of everything except the pain._

_End of flashback_

**I sit up in bed, screaming and sweating. I have the same nightmare most nights. It happened when I was nine, the accident. The car was doing way more than it should have been doing in a residential estate, but I wasn't exactly looking for cars either. I was lucky I didn't die, I could have done. Instead I had a broken right leg, a broken ankle and a broken collarbone and I had to be in a wheelchair until my sprained ankle healed. Parts of it was actually fun, I had wheelchair races against my parents, but I would never want to do it again. Despite growing up with two paraplegic parents, I never realised how hard it is being in a wheelchair and how much you have to rely on other people. The one good thing that came out of that whole experience was that I understood my parents so much better and it really improved our relationship, not that it was bad before, but it just gave us both more understanding towards each other. **

**I wet my forehead with a damp cloth to try and clean the sweat off. Then I take a quick shower, before coming back into my room to change for school. I love thrift store, vintage style outfits, anything that I can get at a bargain, I will buy. I put on my striped jumper over a black crop top and my check and striped knitted mini skirt and a pair of black rose patterned tights. For shoes, I wear my black doc martens. Then I brush my hair, then my teeth and after that I walk through into the kitchen where my mom and dad are already at the table. Our house is a bungalow, to make things easier for my mom and dad and most everything in our house is at a lower height so that they can reach. **

"**You look a little left out standing there Jessie, why don't you sit?" my dad says, making me laugh. I love how good natured they are about their injuries, they don't get offended when I make light hearted jokes, and sometimes even make a few of their own. I walk over to the table and sit down in between my mom and dad's chairs. I grab a croissant from the basket in the middle, and start to butter it. Then I make myself a cup of coffee before sitting down to eat my croissant.**

"**I heard you" Mom says, just after I start eating.**

"**Heard me what?" I ask, pretending I don't know what she's talking about.**

"**Screaming, you had the nightmare again didn't you? You have it almost every night. Do you not think that maybe we should see if you could talk to someone? A professional, I mean" she says.**

"**I don't need to talk to a shrink, I'm fine" I say.**

"**If you were fine, you wouldn't still be having the nightmare" she says.**

"**I don't want to talk to anyone about it. My first driving lesson went fine, and I don't panic when I get in the car or anything, so I don't see what the problem is" I say.**

"**The problem is that you're still having nightmares six years after the event" she says.**

"**Well it was kind of traumatic being slammed into by a car, I don't think it's something I'm going to forget" I say.**

"**Maybe not, but I still think you should talk to someone about it" she says.**

"**I don't want to!" I say raising my voice slightly.**

"**Honey, maybe we should talk about this some other time" my dad says, putting a reassuring hand on my mom's shoulder. I smile gratefully at him. My dad is always good at diffusing the tension between me and my mom, not because we argue a lot or that we don't get on well, but when we do fight Dad's used to playing mediator.**

"**So what are you plans for this year Jessie?" Dad asks me.**

"**I don't know, get good grades so I can keep up my GPA, see if I can get some of my art showcased, take my grade eight exam in ballet and I think I'm going to audition for the winter showcase" I say.**

"**How's your practice for your exam going?" Mom asks.**

"**It's good I'm pretty sure I'll pass it" I say.**

"**What this about a winter showcase?" Dad asks.**

"**They do it every year; it's a showcase of the best talent that McKinley has to offer. I didn't audition last year, but I think I've got a good chance of making it this year" I say.**

"**I'm sure you will. What are you going to do for it? Your grade 8 routine?" Mom asks.**

"**No, I want to do something a little more emotional and a little bit more me for the showcase" I say.**

"**Have you asked either Jake or Mike for help?" Dad asks.**

"**Yeah Uncle Jake's been really helpful" I say. I've been dancing since I was a little kid, it's one of my great passions in life, although not as much as art. I love to paint, there's something so freeing about being able to express your inner self on a canvas. **

"**Well that's good" he says. I can see a slight hint of resentment in his eyes; it's always there when he talks about Mike or Jake or even just dance in general because he's always dreamed of being able to dance. I know he loves being a director, but it always feels like it was his second choice. **

"**So what are you doing for extra-curriculars this year?" Mom asks me.**

"**All the same as I was doing last year, Cheerios, Art, Chess, soccer and volleyball, why?" I say.**

"**Because the last time your dad saw your Uncle Finn, he mentioned that your Aunt Rachel and Aunt Quinn were restarting the Glee Club at McKinley and we were thinking that you'd like to join" she says.**

"**Sure, it sounds like fun" I say.**

"**We were really expecting to have to persuade you more on this, given that you're in the cheerios" Dad says.**

"**I'm not really in the Cheerios' clique though, I hang out with anybody and everybody, so they don't really care what I do and even if they did, it's my choice to join Glee, not theirs" I say.**

"**Well that's great sweetie" Mom says.**

"**How's the show going Dad?" I ask. My Dad is currently the director of this murder-mystery series that airs on ABC. It's been going for about two years now, and is currently in its third season.**

"**Good, we're filming the mid-season finale this week so I'll be flying out to the set in California this evening and I won't be back until Sunday" he says. My dad spends a lot of time over in California during filming of his show, so I don't get to see him as often as I'd like. Still, he often flies me out to the set if they're filming during the holidays, and I've met the cast, which is really cool. The coolest thing about having a director father is that I've grown up on film sets, and got to meet a lot of famous actors and actresses. Dad also lets me call action sometimes which is cool &amp; I've got to sit in his director's chair, which kind of makes up for the fact that he's not around as much as I would like him to be. **

"**Do you want to drive today Jessie?" Mom asks.**

"**I thought you didn't think that me driving was a good idea" I retort.**

"**Jessie don't be like that. All I said was that it might be good for you to talk to someone about what happened to you, I never said that you shouldn't be driving" Mom says.**

"**Fine, I will" I say.**

"**Okay, be ready to leave in half an hour then" Mom says. After I've finished my breakfast, I go back to my room and brush my teeth, before settling at my easel to do some painting before school. I tie my apron around myself, so my clothes don't get covered in paint, before starting to work. The canvas I'm currently painting is one that I've been working on for weeks, I want to see if I get it and a couple of others that I've been working on into a local showcase at the gallery in Lima as a way of furthering my career as an artist. There's never been any question in my mind that I want this to be my career when I'm older and if I can get my artwork showcased then it will be the first step in achieving that.**

**The time seems to pass so quickly and soon enough it's time to go to school. Both my mom and dad's cars are adapted so that they can drive them, which is kind of weird for me, since I'm not disabled but it's easy enough to drive. My mom doesn't really talk much on the drive to school, but I can tell she's not all that happy about being in the car with me, so I pull over to the side of the road.**

"**What's wrong?" she asks me.**

"**You! You clearly don't like me driving so why did you agree to let me drive?" I ask, trying not to raise my voice in anger.**

"**It's not that I don't like you driving, it's that I'm scared for you" she says.**

"**Scared for me? Why?" I ask.**

"**Because you aren't the only one who remembers that accident Jessie! Do you know how guilty I feel that I wasn't there that day? That I couldn't do anything to stop you getting hit by that car. I was so worried that you weren't ever going to be able to walk again, and whilst I've dealt with it, I never want you to go through what I have and you driving scares me, because I just can't help but imagine all the horrible things that could happen to you" Mom says, crying.**

"**Nothing's going to happen to me Mom" I say.**

"**You don't know that" she replies. **

"**You're right, I don't, but I can't live my life worrying about what could happen to me, and neither can you" I say.**

"**I'm your mother, it's in my nature to worry about you" she says.**

"**I know, and I love that you care about me so much, but we've both got to stop living in the past. I can't pretend that my accident never happened, but it's in the past and I can't let it affect my future" I say.**

"**Then why do you still have nightmares about it?" she asks. I don't answer, just turn the key in the ignition and continue driving. We sit in silence for the rest of the way to school, neither of us feeling in the mood to talk about my mom's last statement. The truth is, I still let the accident affect me because I'm acutely aware that all it takes is one wrong move and you can end up in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, and I never want that to be me, and whilst I'm managing to learn to drive okay, what happened to me is always in the back of my mind.**

**When we arrive at school, I help my mom into her wheelchair and then into the drivers' seat of the car so that she can drive to work. Well I help as much as she allows me to, both she and my dad are fiercely independent, so help in this case pretty much just means I got her wheelchair out of the back of the car, and she lowered herself into it and then wheeled round to the driver's side and pushed herself up into the car, before adjusting the seat for herself. I admire how strong both my mom and dad are despite everything they've been through, I'm not sure I could be.**

"**I'll see you later" I say, giving her a hug.**

"**See you later" she says. She drives off and I head into school, going straight to the canteen where I usually hang out with my friends before school. I've been friends with Leigh and Rose since I started school last year and this year Eli and Jessie have joined our friendship group. Of course, I have other friends on the Cheerios and from the various clubs I do, but these guys are my best friends. When I get into the canteen, only Carly is there already.**

"**Hey, where are Rose, Leigh and Eli?" I asked her.**

"**We're quite early, they'll probably be here a lot later" she says laughing. "How's your practice going for your grade eight exam?" she asks.**

"**Oh it's pretty good, I think I'll pass, I hope I will anyway. Are you not going in for it?" I ask, knowing that Carly does ballet as well.**

"**Are you kidding? I'm nowhere near as good as you. Heck I'm nowhere near as good as Kennedy either" she says.**

"**You're putting yourself down, you're a great dancer" I say.**

"**No, I'm a good dancer, I'm not a great dancer, I don't even like dancing that much. It's not what I want to do with the rest of my life" she says.**

"**What do you want to do?" I ask.**

"**I want to be a DJ or a music producer, something like that, where I can mix music, because that's what I really love to do" she says.**

"**Well then you should do that" I say.**

"**It's not as easy as that, Mom wants me to be just like her and I can't bear to disappoint her" she says.**

"**Sometimes we have to disappoint people, if we want to be who we truly are" I say. "Besides if your Mom really loves you then she won't be disappointed in you" **

"**You clearly don't know my mother" she says, laughing a little.**

"**Give her a chance okay, she might be better with it than you think" I say, patting her shoulder reassuringly.**

"**I hope you're right. I will tell her and my dad at some point, I'm not going to end up like Kennedy, doing something that I don't want to do because I'm too scared to tell my parents I don't want it" she says. **

"**Good, that's the attitude to have" I say.**

"**Can we please talk about your problems? It's depressing to think about what my mother will say when I tell her that I don't want to be her mini-me" she says.**

"**Well, my biggest one at the moment is that my mother wants me to go to therapy" I say.**

"**How come?" she asks.**

"**You remember my accident when I was little, the one where I got knocked over by a car?" I say.**

"**Yeah, you were in a wheelchair for a while, what about it?" she asks.**

"**Well my mom has it in her head that I'm scared of cars and that I should go to therapy to deal with it" I say.**

"**Is that such a bad idea? It sounds like it might help you, and it would be surprising if you weren't a little scared after being knocked down when you were a kid" she says.**

"**I'm not scared!" I insist.**

"**I'm not saying you are, I'm just saying that if you were then therapy wouldn't be such a bad idea, but if you don't want to then no one can force you" she says. "Besides, if you needed moral support, then you know that I would go with you right? Or Eli, or Leigh or Rose if you asked them"**

"**Thanks Carly, you're a really good friend" I say, giving her a hug. **

"**Is there any chance you know what's going to happen next on your Dad's show? I really want to know who killed Louise!" she says.**

"**Sorry, I can't tell you" I say.**

"**But you know?" she asks.**

"**My dad doesn't write the show you know he only directs it" I say.**

"**But your dad gets the scripts and I bet you read them so you know?" she asks.**

"**I do know, but I really can't tell you" I say.**

"**Damn you Abrams!" she says punching me playfully. **

"**Sorry, I've been sworn to secrecy" I say. We start to talk about our classes, and all the homework we had over the weekend, and then about the new mixes that Carly has made, and ballet class. Carly also asks me about my artwork, and I tell her about the showcase.**

**Soon after, Leigh arrives. Her hair is all wet, and I ask her why, as she never usually comes to school with her wet. She makes some excuse about having showered before she came to school but I don't believe her because she never comes to school with her hair wet, she always dries it after she's had a shower. So she must have been doing something else, I just don't know what. She's been very evasive recently; actually she's been evasive for a long time, especially when asked about boys. I'm going to have to find out what's going on with her.**

**She then says that she was practicing her audition for the winter showcase, which makes more sense, but I still think she's hiding something. Still, I let it slide, and we talk about our plans for our showcase auditions. Then we talk about Glee Club and what we plan to do for auditioning for that, and Leigh and I show each other moves from our planned showcase routines. **

"**Do you guys want to try something?" Carly asks.**

"**What?" I ask.**

"**The cup song" she says.**

"**The one from Pitch Perfect?" I ask.**

"**I saw that movie, but I don't know how to do the song" Leigh says. **

"**I'll teach you, it's really easy" she says. We go over to the kitchen and she grabs three cups and places them on the table. "First you clap twice, then you tap the top of the cup with your fingertips three times alternating hands, then you clap once and pick up the cup with your right hand and move it to the right, then you put the cup down, you clap once, pick up the cup with your right hand so it is right side up. Then you tap the open side of the cup with the flat of your left hand, and then you put the cup down on the table, right side up and keep the right hand on the cup. You pick up the cup with your right hand, and tap the top of the cup with the flat of your left hand. You slap your left hand down on the table, and then you return the cup to the way it was when you started, and repeat it for the length of the song" she says.**

**We follow her, repeating the pattern several times until we can both do it as fast as she can.**

"**Do you want to try it with the song?" she asks.**

"**Are we ready for that?" I ask.**

"**Of course, you've picked it up quickly" she says. "I'll start us off and you two join in" **

**She starts to sing, doing the rhythm with her cup at the same time, and then me and Leigh join in with our cups. As we sing, other girls from the canteen start to join in as well, grabbing cups from the kitchen.**

_Carly:_

_I've got my ticket for the long way 'round_

_Two bottle whiskey for the way_

_And I sure would like some sweet company_

_And I'm leaving tomorrow. What'd you say?_

_Jessie:_

_When I'm gone, when I'm gone_

_You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

_You're gonna miss me by my hair_

_You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh_

_You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

_Leigh:_

_When I'm gone, when I'm gone_

_You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

_You're gonna miss me by my walk_

_You're gonna miss me by my talk, oh_

_You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

_Carly:_

_I've got my ticket for the long way round_

_The one with the prettiest of views_

_Jessie:_

_It's got mountains, it's got rivers_

_It's got sights to give you shivers_

_But it sure would be prettier with you_

_Sierra:_

_When I'm gone, when I'm gone_

_You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

_Freya:_

_You're gonna miss me by my walk_

_You're gonna miss me by my talk, oh_

_Morgan:_

_You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

_Candice:_

_When I'm gone, when I'm gone_

_You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

_Raina:_

_You're gonna miss me by my hair_

_You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh_

_Morgan:_

_You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

_All:_

_When I'm gone, when I'm gone_

_You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

_You're gonna miss me by my walk_

_You're gonna miss me by my talk, oh_

_Carly, Jessie and Leigh:_

_You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

_(Carly finishes the cup rhythm first, and then fades out, with me finishing next, then Leigh, then Sierra, then Morgan, then Candice and then Raina)._

"**That was awesome!" I say giving Leigh and Carly a hug, and the other girls join in making it a group hug. There weren't many people in the canteen to see it, but those that were seemed to like it even they didn't join in. We return the cups to the kitchen, and then our little group fizzles out, leaving me, Leigh and Carly talking. Eli comes to join us soon after, and we start to talk about our classes and extra-curriculars, and then when Rose comes we talk about our weekends. The buzzer goes soon after that, Carly and Eli head off to their Math class, and I walk with Leigh and Rose, I have French, and they have English, so our classes are pretty close to each other.**

"**How's your grade 8 routine going?" I ask Leigh.**

"**Well I think my feet may fall off after I take this exam, but if I pass then it'll be worth it" she says.**

"**I feel the same way, I didn't think it could get much harder after grade seven but apparently the examiners didn't get the memo" I say.**

"**I wish we'd listened when they told us how hard it was!" she says**

"**You have the advantage; your dad is great at ballet!" I say.**

"**Aren't you having extra practice with Aunt Santana?" she asks.**

"**I have to if I'm going to pass" I say.**

"**Then I really don't have an advantage at all. Do you want some extra help? I can't say I'm as good as Santana, but we could give each other pointers" she says.**

"**Do you have time for that? Lately you always seem to be helping at your dad's classes, or busy doing homework or at tutoring sessions" I say.**

**There's definitely something going on with Leigh, because she looks almost….guilty when I mention how busy she has been recently. I'm sure she'll tell me what's going on when she wants to, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to follow her the next time she says she's going to one of her "tutoring sessions".**

"**Yeah, I've got the time. What do you want help on?" she asks.**

"**Well my free movement and character are going well, but my classical just isn't good enough" I say. Those are the three sections for Grade 8, classical ballet which is the traditional style of ballet and requires a lot of technique, free movement is basically improvised dance, it's kind of like contemporary and character dance is a dance based on traditional folk dance, ours is a Russian folk dance. **

"**I can help you out with that, my classical is the best part of my exam routine" she says.**

"**That's great, thanks a lot Leigh" I say.**

"**It's no problem, you would do it for me" she says.**

"**Are you still taking the Vocational Syllabus as well?" I ask.**

"**Yeah, I'll be taking Advanced 1 later on in the year" she says.**

"**I don't know how you've managed it, studying for two ballet exams per year since you were 11, I've struggled practicing for one" I say.**

"**It's helpful when you have a dad who lets you use his studio after hours to practice and an "aunt" and "uncle" that do the same" she says shrugging.**

**We reach my French classroom and I say goodbye to Leigh and Rose before walking in, and sitting down in my seat in the second row. For the rest of the morning, I have to pretend to care about the conjugation of verbs, as if I'm ever going to use French as an artist. **

**At lunchtime, I head over to the auditorium for my Glee Club audition. I sit in a seat behind Aunt Quinn and Aunt Rachel, whilst Jonah Evans performs. He's quite good; he might make a good duet partner. I don't mean I'm romantically interested in him, I just think our voices would work well together. He stays and talks to Aunt Quinn and Aunt Rachel for a few minutes, so I put my headphones in, to make sure I don't overhear their conversation. After he leaves, I make my way onto the stage, taking my seat on the stool in the centre.**

"**Hi Aunt Quinn, Aunt Rachel" I say.**

"**Hi Jessie, how are you?" Aunt Quinn says.**

"**I'm good thanks" I reply.**

"**What will you be singing today, Jessie?" Aunt Rachel asks.**

"**Temporary Home by Carrie Underwood" I say.**

"**I love that song, let's hear it" Aunt Quinn says. I gesture to the piano player, and he starts to play as I start to sing.**

_Jessie:_

_Little boy, six years old_

_A little too used to being alone_

_Another new mom and dad_

_Another school, another house that will never be home_

_When people ask him how he likes this place_

_He looks up and says with a smile upon his face_

_This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong_

_Windows and rooms that I'm passing through_

_This is just a stop on the way to where I'm going_

_I'm not afraid because I know_

_This is my temporary home_

_Young mom, on her own_

_She needs a little help, got nowhere to go_

_She's looking for a job, looking for a way out_

'_Cause a halfway house will never be a home_

_At night she whispers to her baby girl_

"_Someday we'll find our place here in this world"_

_This is our temporary home, it's not where we belong_

_Windows and rooms that we're passing through_

_This is just a stop on the way to where we're going_

_I'm not afraid because I know_

_This is our temporary home_

_Old man, hospital bed_

_The room is filled with people he loves_

_And he whispers_

"_Don't cry for me, I'll see you all someday"_

_He looks up and says_

"_I can see God's face"_

_This is my temporary home; it's not where I belong_

_Windows and rooms that I'm passing through_

_This was just a stop on the way to where I'm going_

_I'm not afraid because I know_

_This was my temporary home_

_This is our temporary home_

"**What did you think?" I ask, after I've finished singing.**

"**You have a lovely voice, it could use a little fine tuning, but you'll make an excellent addition to the glee club" Aunt Rachel says.**

"**Plus we could definitely use someone with your dancing talents" Aunt Quinn says. "I know you didn't dance today, but we've both seen you and I think we can safely say you'll be on our choreography team this year" **

"**Thanks, that means a lot" I say.**

"**The first rehearsal is on Friday at four, in the choir room. Don't be late" Aunt Rachel says.**

"**I won't be" I say, walking off the stage. I head to the canteen for lunch, hanging out with Rose, Eli, Leigh and Carly. Rose seems very quiet, and she doesn't really eat that much which is surprising because she usually has such a healthy appetite, and she's not even excited when she tells me that she got into Glee. I wonder what's going on with her, but before I can ask, she rushes off somewhere. Leigh, Eli, Carly and I spend the rest of lunchtime chatting happily, and listening to music together as we like to do most lunchtimes.**

**The rest of the day passes pretty slowly, most of my lessons are quite boring, and it's not like I excel at school. I'm not a bad student, I'm just average, like most people. The only lesson that I truly excel in is Art, which luckily I had today. It was my last lesson before the end of school, and went way too fast for my liking. Why is it that the things we enjoy the most, have to go so fast?**

**After school, I head over to the bleachers, where the football team are practicing. Confession time, I have a huge crush on the quarterback, Tyler Grant, he's such a hunk &amp; not only does he play football, he's also a hockey player and since I love ice skating, a guy who can skate is so sexy! Every afternoon that the football team practices, I come out to watch him play (at least for as long as I can before I have to go to dance class). I just wish I could actually work up the courage to ask him out, I've been coming out here to watch since the beginning of freshman year and still haven't managed to. **

"**Forget about him" a voice says from behind me. I turn to see Viola Barnes, the bitchiest girl at this school. She doesn't have the right to be, she's not top of Cheerios pyramid but she acts like she's queen of the world.**

"**What are you talking about?" I ask, pretending not to know.**

"**Don't act dumb, Wheels Junior, I know you like Tyler Grant, I see you ogling at him every time they practice. He's off limits, cheerios rule, you can't date the ex-boyfriends of other cheerios, and he is my ex-boyfriend" she says.**

"**First off, just because my parents are in wheelchairs, doesn't give you the right to call me that insulting nickname. Secondly, you don't have the monopoly on Tyler, he's fair game to anyone, and if I like him then I can ask him out" I say.**

"**Even if you did ask him out, which I highly doubt you will because you've been mooning over him for over a year now and haven't done anything about it, he wouldn't say yes. You're not his type" she says.**

"**Wanna bet?" I ask, suddenly feeling angry and wanting to prove a point.**

"**What are you going to do? Punch me?" Viola sneers.**

"**No" I say, striding away from her and across the field to where Tyler is standing, on a break from practice.**

"**Hey, Jessie isn't it?" he asks, looking up at me.**

"**Yeah that's right" I say.**

"**What do you want?" he asks.**

"**I want you to go out with me" I say.**

"**Cool, when?" he asks, sounding quite nonchalant about the whole thing.**

"**You'll go out with me?" I say disbelievingly. I wasn't actually expecting him to say yes.**

"**Did I not just ask when you wanted to do this?" he asks.**

"**I guess you did, How about Friday night? At seven, we could go see a movie or something" I say.**

"**Sounds great Jessie, I'll see you then" he says, striding back over to his friends. I have to stop myself from squealing in happiness before he's walked away but as soon as he has and is out of earshot, I do. I walk off the football pitch and send a smirk Viola's way, as she gives me an evil glare.**

**I know that Viola's not going to give up her boyfriend without a fight, but at least for now, it's 1-0 to me.**

**Bring on round two, I think as I walk back to the front entrance of McKinley to wait on the steps for my mom to pick me up.**

**A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long, like I said before it took me a while to get the characters I needed and I've had a lot of work at school recently so I haven't been able to write as fast as I would have liked. The songs performed in this chapter were Man I Feel Like A Woman!-Shania Twain, performed by Shay Hudson, Cannonball-Little Mix, performed by Kennedy Hudson, About The Boy-Little Mix, performed by Rose Puckerman, If I Lose Myself Tonight-OneRepublic, performed by Remy Lynn, 1989 Medley-Taylor Swift, performed by Hanna Bradley, Human-Christina Perri, performed by Abby Hummel-Anderson, Defying Gravity-Wicked, performed by Abby Hummel-Anderson, You-Robin Stjernberg, performed by Eli Schuester, You Ruin Me-The Veronicas, performed by Skye Samson, Tomorrow-Annie, performed by Lexi Lopez-Pierce, The A Team/Let Her Go-Ed Sheeran/Passenger, performed by Jonah Evans, Wherever You Will Go-The Calling, performed by Leigh Puckerman, Try-Pink, performed by Leigh Puckerman, Tears Dry On Their Own-Amy Winehouse, performed by Hamish Flanagan, I'm With You-Avril Lavigne-performed by Ruby Chang, Fly Me To The Moon-Frank Sinatra, performed by Ruby Chang and Freddie Robinson, When I'm Gone (Cup Song)-Pitch Perfect, performed by Carly Hudson, Jessie Abrams, Leigh Puckerman, Morgan Lopez-Pierce, Candice Hantz and Raina Evans &amp; Temporary Home-Carrie Underwood, performed by Jessie Abrams. I hope you liked this chapter, and I hope to get the next one to you guys as soon as possible, but I don't know how long it will take, so just try to be patient with me. **

**Review? **


	3. Auditions Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee; all rights go to RIB and Fox.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, I'm glad you guys seemed to like it which means a lot to me, I love hearing your feedback no matter what is; constructive criticism is just as good as praise. This chapter should be slightly shorter than the last one, but no guarantees! This will be the second half of the auditions, so everyone who wasn't in the last chapter will be in this chapter.

Trigger warnings: There will be scenes of abuse, eating disorders, mentions of alcoholism, scenes of self harm &amp; scenes of violence.

Chapter 3: Auditions Part 2

**Carly's POV**

**I am awoken by a knock on my door. "Carly, it's Kennedy" my sister calls. **

"**I'll be with you in a second" I say, though it will likely be more than a second, because I have literally only just woken up.**

"**I'll wait for you in my room" Kennedy says, laughing slightly because she knows that I'm nowhere near ready yet. I shower first, taking time to wash my hair, and then I brush my teeth. Make-up doesn't take very long, I hardly wear any. I don't do anything with my hair, just dry it and leave it as it naturally is, loose and curly, before braiding my bangs back and pinning the braid so it will stay in place during the day. Today I choose to wear my bright blue dress with the black bow, a long light blue cardigan, and a pair of black knee high fringed boots. I also put on my small infinity necklace that I wear with most outfits. Once I'm ready I walk over to Kennedy's room. I'm much closer to Kennedy than I am to Shay, the age gap isn't much different, but we have something in common in the fact that we're both hiding what we really want to do from our parents. To be honest, personality wise, I'm the odd one out in this family, Shay and Kennedy are both chronic overachievers whereas I'm more fun loving and carefree, and pretty average when it comes to school, but somehow we all manage to get along okay. **

**I walk across the hall and knock on the door to Kennedy's room. "Come in" she says.**

"**What did you want to show me?" I ask.**

"**I finally made one of my designs!" she says excitedly.**

"**When?" I ask.**

"**Yesterday, Jonah offered his house as a place to make my designs and I made a dress" she says.**

"**Do you have it here?" I ask.**

"**Yeah of course" she says. She lifts up the loose floorboard under her bed and pulls out one of the most gorgeous dresses I have ever seen; it's short and strapless, with a sequinned bodice and an ombered skirt, lilac into darker purple. **

"**Can I try it on?" I ask.**

"**Well it's in my size and not yours, but if you don't mind that then sure" she says, handing me the dress.**

**I head into her en-suite bathroom and change into the dress. Sure it's a little big, but it actually looks really good on me. I walk back into the bedroom and twirl around in the dress.**

"**What do you think?" I ask.**

"**It looks perfect" she says, close to tears.**

"**What are you crying for?" I ask.**

"**It's the first time I've seen one of my designs actually on someone, and I'm just really happy. I'm good, I'm really good" she says.**

"**What made you decide to start actually making your outfits?" I ask.**

"**It was Jonah's idea, he said that if I made some of my designs and showed Mom and Dad how good I was then they wouldn't think my dream of being a fashion designer was ridiculous and would agree that I could go to FIT or Parsons rather than NYADA" she says.**

"**You could show Mom as many designs as you like, it's not going to change the fact that she's going to be disappointed that you're not going to be her mini-me, she's been preparing you for that your entire life" I say.**

"**I know, but I figure that if I have something to show for my dreams, she'll at least take it a little more seriously. I really want this Carly, more than I've ever wanted to be on Broadway" she says.**

"**Well then you have to fight for it" I say. "Can I keep this?" **

"**Sure, just give it back to me and I'll take it in for you this evening when I'm at Jonah's" she says and I go into the en-suite and change back into my clothes.**

"**Any chance that you'd mind making some more stuff like this for me?" I ask coming out and handing her the dress. **

"**Sure I wouldn't, in fact if you know anyone else who'd like to model for me then let me know, I figure it might be better if I show Mom and Dad the clothes on people rather than just on hangers" she says.**

"**I will. One day, when I'm asked who I'm wearing, I'll be able to say that I'm wearing Kennedy Hudson, and not only that, that Kennedy Hudson is my sister" I say.**

"**I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself Carly, I have to convince Mom and Dad to pay for fashion school first before any of that happens" she says.**

"**You will, you're the most determined person I know, you're not going to settle for doing anything that you aren't truly passionate about" I say.**

"**What about you? Thought about telling Mom about your big shot producer dreams yet?" Kennedy asks.**

"**I've thought about it, but Mom's never going to agree" I say.**

"**She doesn't have to, it's not like you need to go to college to become a producer, you could just send your mixes to record companies and see if they'll offer you a deal" she says.**

"**But if I'm going to move to LA, then I'm going to need money to pay for it, so I still need Mom and Dad for that" I say.**

"**Get a job, save some money" she says.**

"**I will tell them someday, just not now. You're the one who's running out of time, you're a Junior, next year Mom will be expecting you to apply to NYADA and if you get in, then you're stuck. Your dreams of being a fashion designer are dead" I say. **

"**I fully intend to tell them, this year. When next year comes around, I will be applying to the best fashion schools in the world, and NYADA will be a distant memory" she says.**

"**That's the sister I know and love" I say.**

"**So you make any new mixes this weekend?" she asks.**

"**You know I did" I say.**

"**Can I listen to one of them?" she asks.**

"**Sure" I say. "I just have to get my computer". I go back to my room, grab my computer and a pair of headphones from my desk, before returning to Kennedy's room. I hand her one of the headphones and put the other one into my own ear, and we listen to my favourite of my new mixes. **

"**I think we should perform this together" she says, after the mix finishes.**

"**But you don't even know the words" I say.**

"**Sure I do, you know that picking up lyrics on the first listen is one of my skills, along with my amazing clothes designing talents" she says. "Grab your guitar"**

"**Why would I do that? We could just sing along to the mix" I say.**

"**Because it will be more fun this way, now go on!" she says. I go back into my room, and grab my guitar. Then I head back to Kennedy's room and sit down on her bed. We decide which parts we're each going to do, and then I start to play and sing.**

_Carly:_

_Early morning, she wakes up_

_Knock, knock, knock on the door_

_It's time for makeup, perfect smile_

_It's you they're all waiting for_

_And they go_

"_Isn't she lovely, this Hollywood girl?"_

_Kennedy:_

_And they'll tell you now, you're the lucky one_

_And they'll tell you now, you're the lucky one_

_But can you tell me now, you're the lucky one_

_Oh, oh, oh…_

_Carly:_

_Now it's big black cars and Riviera views_

_And your lover in the foyer doesn't even know you_

_And your secrets end up splashed on the news front page_

_Kennedy:_

_And they'll tell you that you're lucky_

_But you're so confused_

_Cause you don't feel pretty, you just feel used_

_And all the young things line up to take your place_

_Another name goes up in lights, you wonder if you'll make it out alive_

_Carly:_

_She's so lucky, she's a star_

_But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking_

_If there's nothing missing in my life_

_Then why do these tears come at night?_

_Kennedy:_

_It was a few years later, I showed up here_

_And they still tell the legend of how you disappeared_

_How you took the money and your dignity, and got the hell out_

_They say you bought a bunch of land somewhere_

_Chose the Rose Garden over Madison Square_

_And it took some time, but I understand it now_

_Carly:_

"_Isn't she lovely, this Hollywood girl?"_

_Kennedy:_

_And they'll tell you now, you're the lucky one_

_And they'll tell you now, you're the lucky one_

_But can you tell me now, you're the lucky one_

_Oh, oh, oh_

_Carly:_

_She's so lucky, she's a star_

_But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking_

_If there's nothing missing in my life,_

_Then why do these tears come at night?_

"**That was awesome Carly!" she says giving me a hug. **

"**Yeah, we weren't bad were we?" I ask.**

"**Not bad, we were awesome!" she says. "As soon as you tell Mom and Dad about your mixes, we need to do more of these and post them online" **

"**Why?" I ask.**

"**Why? Because we sound awesome and it would definitely help you get a deal with a recording company" she says.**

"**Well I do already post my mixes to the website that I make them on so I suppose this is just a step up from that" I say.**

"**It is, besides don't we have the most fun singing together?" she asks.**

"**We do, and our voices do sound great together. I'll make a deal with you, we sing some of my mixes together and record them, but we don't post them online until both of us have told Mom and Dad what we really want to do with the rest of our lives" I say, holding out my hand.**

"**Deal" she says, shaking my hand.**

"**So about this whole modelling thing, do I get any input on what I wear?" I ask, smirking cheekily.**

"**Don't push it" she says, pushing me gently, and making me laugh. "So how many people know about your secret hobby? Just me?" she asks. **

"**You, Leigh, Rose, Jessie and Eli, but that's it" I say. "What about you?" I ask.**

"**You and Jonah" she says.**

"**No one else?" I ask.**

"**The number of people I hang out with at school can be counted on one hand, I spend most of my time with Jonah, and there's no one else I trust enough to keep my secret" she says.**

"**Are you and Jonah ever going to get together?" I ask. **

"**Whoa, weird change of subject" she says.**

"**Just answer the question Kennedy" I say.**

"**I don't see him that way, I told Mom as much when she asked me about it yesterday. I don't get why you're all so convinced that I like Jonah" she says.**

"**Maybe because you spend every waking minute that you're not in the house with him" I say.**

"**Because we're best friends, you spend a lot of time with Eli and I don't say that you're in love with him" she says.**

"**That's different, Eli and I haven't been friends since we were in Kindergarten" I say.**

"**So just because we've been friends for a long time, I have to be interested in him?" she asks.**

"**That's not what I meant and you know it" I say.**

"**What did you mean?" she asks.**

"**I meant that he's the only one aside from me that you've told your big secret to, and I bet he knows things about you that I don't" I say.**

"**Of course he does, you're my sister, and there are some things I just can't tell you" she says.**

"**And what do you call the only guy who you can tell everything to?" I ask.**

"**Your boyfriend, I guess but Jonah is my best friend, not my boyfriend and people can have guy friends" she says.**

"**I know they can, all I'm saying is that you see Jonah as more than a friend, and it's obvious to anyone who sees the two of you together that you want to be more than just friends" I say.**

"**What makes it so obvious? It's not obvious to me" she says.**

"**It's never obvious to the people themselves, but it's there. He likes you too, have you never wondered why the only long term female relationship in his life aside from his mother and his sister is you? That's not accident, none of his relationships ever work out because he wants to be with you" I say.**

"**That never crossed my mind, I just thought he was the ultimate player" she says.**

"**I'm telling you he likes you" I say.**

"**Well if you'd said that before yesterday, I wouldn't have believed you but the weirdest thing happened yesterday" she says.**

"**What was it?" I ask.**

"**He overheard me and Mom talking about this after my glee audition, and he broke his hand, I guess by punching the wall" she says.**

"**What did you tell her?" I ask.**

"**That I liked him as a friend, but didn't think I could ever see him as boyfriend" she says.**

"**He probably got angry because he likes you and was frustrated that you didn't feel the same way, even though I maintain that you so do" I say.**

"**That's what I thought, but it doesn't make any sense. How can he go from seeing me as a friend to seeing me as a possible girlfriend?" she asks.**

"**The same way anyone who has been friends with someone, goes from being friends to more than that, one day you just realize that they mean more to you than you thought" I say.**

"**Says the girl who hasn't had a boyfriend, ever" she says, laughing gently.**

"**Fine, I will admit my main source of information is TV shows or romantic comedies, but I still think my advice is true to life" I say.**

"**So if this were a romantic comedy, or a TV show, what would I do to find out whether I like him, oh wise guru?" she asks with a glimmer in her eye. I smack her playfully before answering.**

"**Kiss him, if you feel something then you talk to him about it and see if he feels the same way and then go from there. If you don't feel anything then again talk to him about it and explain that you just want to be friends" I say.**

"**That's not bad advice for a rookie, thanks Carly. Now I just need to find an excuse to kiss my best friend" she says.**

"**I'm not helping you with that one, you can deal with that yourself" I say.**

"**You've helped enough, I'm sure I can manage to figure out the last part for myself" she says.**

**We are interrupted by my mother calling up the stairs. "KENNEDY, CARLY, if you don't get down here now then your breakfast is going to get cold" **

"**More importantly everyone else's is, because Mom refuses to let us start until you two get down here" Shay interjects. We both laugh, and make our way downstairs. **

**Mom places a plate of pancakes in front of everyone. "Dig in" she says, sitting down herself and starting to eat her own pancakes. **

"**What were you guys singing?" Shay asks. "I heard you from across the hall" **

"**Oh, it was just a mash-up I found online" I say, sharing a secretive look with Kennedy. This is my go-to excuse whenever anyone who doesn't know about my mixes hears one of them, since I have a tendency to whistle my mixes when I'm bored. **

"**It sounded good anyway" Shay says.**

"**Speaking of singing, you are going to be auditioning for Glee club aren't you Carly?" Mom asks.**

"**Yeah, at some point today" I say. I wish I could audition with one of my mixes but that would bring up too many questions, so I decided to use my talent with the cup song to do something else.**

"**At least she didn't force you to join" Shay says sullenly.**

"**That was your father not me Savannah, and I really wish you would stop being so angry about it, it's not as if you're going to be doing something you hate, you like singing and dancing, so I don't see what the problem is" she says.**

"**The problem is that it wasn't my choice to do this, and I refuse to be happy about something that I was forced into doing" Shay says, getting up from the table, and slamming the door behind her as she storms out.**

"**Should I get that?" Dad asks.**

"**No just leave her be, I'll go talk to her when she's calmed down, I'm the one she's mad at" Mom says.**

"**Why would she be mad at you? I'm the one who forced her into joining Glee" Dad says.**

"**She's a Daddy's girl, she couldn't be mad at you if she tried" Mom says.**

"**Do you think I made the right decision forcing her to join Glee?" Dad asks.**

"**You had to Finn; she couldn't get away with being so rude. It'll be good for her to realize that she can't always get what she wants" Mom says.**

"**She reminds me so much of you" Dad says.**

"**Maybe, but I had to grow up and so does she" Mom says.**

"**You guys realize we're still here right?" I ask, since Mom and Dad have been talking like we're not in the room.**

"**Sorry Carly. So how's school been going for you?" Mom asks.**

"**Great, actually. I joined Orchestra and Chorus and I've been hanging out with Rose, Jessie, Eli and Leigh a lot. The work's harder and there are the same jerks there that there were in middle school, but it's good" I say. **

"**And Shay and Kennedy have been looking out for you?" she asks.**

"**I don't need them to, but I know if anyone hurts me that they have my back" I say, smiling at Kennedy.**

"**And your grades are good?" Dad asks.**

"**Dad I literally just started high school a week ago, we haven't even had a test in any of my subjects yet" I say. I'm not looking forward to when it finally happens; I hate studying and homework, all of the stuff to do with school really, aside from spending time with my friends. It's not as if I'm going to need any of it to be an amazing music producer.**

"**What about you Kennedy?" Dad asks, turning to face my sister.**

"**Well I'm not in the running for valedictorian like Shay, but I'm doing okay, my GPA is pretty good" I say.**

"**She's got to keep it up if she's going to get into NYADA, right Kennedy?" Mom says.**

"**Right Mom. Come on Carly, we need to get going or we're going to be late for school" she says, an obvious way to avoid talking about NYADA. She does this most of the time, avoids the subject of NYADA as often as she can and only talks about it enough so that Mom doesn't get suspicious. **

"**Shay's taking her own car to school right?" I ask.**

"**Yeah she will be, once she's calmed down from her hissy fit. You girls go" Mom says.**

**We walk out to the car together, me getting in on the passenger side, Kennedy on the driver's side. I can't wait till I'm old enough to drive, but there's still two more stupid years until that can happen.**

"**You know that you can't keep avoiding talking about NYADA with Mom, right?" I ask.**

"**I know. I'm just a coward and it's easier to avoid the subject than talk to her about it" she says.**

"**I can't exactly judge, I'm a coward too" I say. We continue talking all the way to school, and I'm almost sad when Kennedy's car pulls into the parking lot, because we were having a really great sisterly chat. We say goodbye to each other, and she heads off to find Jonah, whereas I head to the canteen where I know I'll find my friends.**

**The day passes relatively quickly from there, luckily I have English and Spanish, both subjects that I enjoy (as much as you can enjoy anything at school), and after Spanish is over, and break time has begun, I head over to the auditorium, having grabbed an empty glass from the canteen before going there.**

"**Hey sweetie, how's your day been so far?" Mom asks, after I walk onto the stage in the auditorium.**

"**It's been good so far, but it's only the beginning of the day and I haven't had Math yet" I say, making Mom laugh.**

"**No one's been bullying you? No slushies? Dumpster dives? Patriotic wedgies?" she asks.**

"**Eww no. What even is a patriotic wedgie?" I ask. **

"**They hoist you up the flagpole by your underwear. It never happened to me, but the kids used to do it when I was in high school" she says.**

"**Calm down Mom okay? Everyone here loves me, I'm friendly, and happy and positive and people like that" I say.**

"**Okay, I'm just worried about you that' all" she says.**

"**Well don't be, I'm fine" I reply.**

"**What's with the cup?" Aunt Quinn asks.**

"**It's for my number" I say.**

"**Which is?" she asks.**

"**Call Your Girlfriend by Robyn" I reply.**

"**Well I have to say I'm intrigued Carly. Let's hear it" she says.**

**I start the cup beat, before beginning to sing my song, carrying out the cup beat as I sing.**

_Carly:_

_Call your girlfriend_

_I think it's time you talk…_

_Give your reasons; say it's not her fault_

_But you, just met somebody new…._

_Tell her not to get upset, second guessing everything you said and done_

_And when she gets upset, tell her you never meant to hurt no one_

_Then tell her that the only way her heart will mend is when she learns to love again_

_And it won't make sense right now but you're still her friend and then you let her down easy…._

_Call your girlfriend; think it's time you talk…_

_Give your reasons; say it's not her fault…_

_But you, just met somebody new…_

_And tell her how I give you something that you never even knew you missed…_

_Don't you even try to explain how it's so different when we kiss…_

_And tell her that the only way her heart will mend_

_Is when she learns to love again_

_But it won't make sense right now but you're still her friend, and then you let her down easy…._

"**So that's it" I say shrugging. I'm not like Shay, who's incredibly conceited about anything that she's good at, since I find that doesn't exactly win you any favours. I know I'm a good singer, and a good dancer but I don't go around telling everyone. I try to let the music speak for itself.**

"**I knew you'd watched that Pitch Perfect movie too many times" Mom says laughing. It's true; Pitch Perfect is one of my favourite movies. I learned the cup song in one afternoon when I was eleven, by replaying the scene where Anna Kendrick does it over and over again and copying it until I could do it myself. I guess I love the movie so much, because I identify a lot with Beca's dreams, but also Fat Amy and Chloe's personalities.**

"**That was great Carly, a truly original audition" Quinn says.**

"**So I'm in?" I ask.**

"**Yes you're in" she replies.**

"**The first glee rehearsal is on Friday, in the choir room at four. Don't be late" Mom says. **

"**I won't be. Bye Mom, Bye Aunt Quinn" I say, walking off the stage. I head to my locker to get my books for the next lesson. I open the locker, and get my books out. I jump backwards in surprise when I close the locker door and see a cute boy standing next to me who I hadn't seen before. I trip over my own feet, and fall the ground, my cheeks flushing bright red in embarrassment.**

**He holds out his hand to help me up, and I take it, wishing that I hadn't braided my bangs back so that I could cover my face right now.**

"**Careful there, you could hurt yourself" he says.**

"**Who are you and what were you doing standing next to my locker?" I ask.**

"**Chuck Baker and my locker's next to yours" he says.**

"**But you must have been standing there for a while, because you're holding your books and I didn't hear your locker shut" I say.**

"**Okay, you got me, I was waiting for you" he says.**

"**Why's that?" I ask.**

"**Because I think you're really pretty" he says.**

"**I don't know whether I should be creeped out or flattered" I say.**

"**Flattered I hope" he says.**

"**I'm….." I start to say but he interrupts me.**

"**Carly Hudson I know, you're the Principal's daughter" he says.**

"**Don't shout it too loudly; the other kids don't exactly take too well to knowing that I'm the principal's daughter. They think it means I can get away with anything" I say.**

"**Can you?" he asks.**

"**No, but then I never do anything to land myself in detention. Kennedy on the other hand has been there a thousand times, but it's usually because of something Jonah talked her into doing" I say.**

"**Kennedy is?" he asks.**

"**Oh, my sister" I reply.**

"**So are you a freshman or what? I mean I haven't seen you around here before" I say.**

"**Yeah I'm a freshman. I'm actually new to Lima anyway, I just moved here from Cincinnati" he says.**

"**How come?" I ask.**

"**Well it's the same old story, Mom and Dad meet and fall in love in high school, get married after graduation, grow up and realise they have nothing in common and start to argue all the time, decide to have a kid to save their marriage, stay married for years even though they hate each other just for the kid, and then finally decide they can't stand each other and get a divorce. Dad sues Mom for full custody and drags kid out to Lima and that's the end of my sad story" he says.**

"**I'm sorry to hear that" I say.**

"**It's fine, it's not like I didn't see it coming. My earliest memory of my parents is of them arguing, they spent my entire life doing it. To be honest, when they got divorced I was relieved that it was all over. I was sick of being their rope in their tug of war &amp; I know it sounds awful to say, but I almost wish they'd got divorced earlier. Still, I kind of miss Cincinnati, it's not quite the same here" he says.**

"**How long have you been here?" I ask.**

"**About three weeks now" he says. **

"**I could always show you around some of my favourite haunts, I mean if you'd like" I say.**

"**That would be nice" he says. "Would you consider going out with me?" he asks, an abrupt change of subject.**

"**You don't even know me" I say.**

"**Is that not what dating is for? Getting to know each other?" he asks.**

"**You make a good point and I would like to get to know you better. What did you have in mind?" I ask.**

"**I was thinking I'd take you for dinner at one of my old haunts in Cincinnati" he says.**

"**Who would take us there?" I ask.**

"**Well I'd say my dad, but he refuses to be in the same city as my mother, so I'm kind of stuck there" he says.**

"**Wow your parents' divorce must have been really nasty" I remark.**

"**Over a decade of resentment towards each other kind of does that" he says.**

"**My sister could drive us" I say.**

"**Which one, the bitchy cheerio or Kennedy?" he asks.**

"**How come you know who Shay is?" I ask.**

"**Oh, she gave me a very icy welcome, quite literally, she threw a slushie in my face" he says.**

"**I'm sorry about that" I say.**

"**It's fine. It was kind of weird, as soon as she did it, she offered to help me clean off" he says.**

"**That's Shay, she can be a real bitch but she can't stand people hating her, so don't be surprised if she tries to become your new BFF, it's kind of her thing. But the sister I meant that could drive us was Kennedy, not Shay" I say.**

"**Okay, what do you say I meet you at your house at 7 next Saturday and we go for dinner together? It doesn't even have to be a date if you don't want it to be, just two new friends getting to know each other" he says.**

"**I think we can call it a date. I'll see you then. It was nice to meet you Chuck Baker" I say.**

"**Nice to meet you too Carly Hudson" he says. I head off to my next class, and as I do, I check over my shoulder to see if he's watching as I walk away. He is, so I throw him a quick wink and he smiles back at me.**

**I have a feeling this could be the start of something special.**

_Ginny's POV_

_Every morning, I wake up at 6 am. I hate getting up late, it makes me feel like I'm missing out on something, and that might be stupid but it's the way I feel. After I wake up, I take a shower, the place where I'm most often found singing. I love to sing, but I've never actually sung in front of an audience before, I always sing where no one can hear me, only my family have ever heard me sing before and that's pretty much just because the walls of our house are incredibly thin. I'm kind of scared that everyone will hate the way my voice sounds. Rose has such a pretty voice, and her voice is much higher than mine &amp; Shannon has a really pretty voice as well, I'm afraid that because my voice is lower than theirs, people won't think it sounds as good. But I've decided that I'm going to audition for Glee Club. It will be good for me to get over at least one of my insecurities, and I really do love to sing. So I choose the most perfect song to sing in the shower about how I'm feeling today._

**Ginny:**

**What you're gonna do with the 36 cents **

**Sticky with coke on your floorboard**

**When a woman on the street is huddled in the cold**

**On a sidewalk bench trying to keep warm**

**Do you call her over, hand her the change**

**Ask her her story, ask her her name**

**Or do you tell yourself**

"**You're just a fool, just a fool to believe you can change the world"**

"**You're just a fool, just a fool to believe you change the world"**

**What you're gonna do when you're watching TV**

**And an ad comes on, yeah, you know the kind**

**Flashing up pictures of a child in need**

**For a dime a day, you could save a life**

**Do you call the number, reach out a hand**

**Or do you change the channel, call it a scam**

**Do you tell yourself**

"**You're just a fool, just a fool to believe you can change the world"**

**Don't listen to them when they say**

"**You're just a fool, just a fool to believe you can change the world"**

**Oh, the smallest thing can make all the difference**

**Love is alive; don't listen to them when they say**

"**You're just a fool, just a fool to believe you can change the world"**

**The world's so big; it can break your heart**

**And you just want to help, not sure where to start**

**So you close your eyes **

**And send up a prayer into the dark**

"**You're just a fool, just a fool to believe you can change the world"**

**Don't listen to them when they say**

"**You're just a fool, just a fool to believe you can change the world"**

**Oh, the smallest thing can make all the difference**

**Love is alive; don't listen to them when they say**

"**You're just a fool, just a fool to believe you can change the world"**

_It's one of my favourite songs that one, it always makes me feel better when I'm feeling down. I stay in the shower for a few minutes longer, washing the last of the conditioner out of my hair before getting out. I dry myself, then my hair before brushing my teeth. I go over to my wardrobe and pick out an outfit to wear. I don't like people noticing me, I don't want to dress like an attention whore, so my wardrobe consists of entirely dark clothing, mostly black with some dark blue, and it is all loose fitting. Today, I pick out a pair of black and white check pants, a black blouse with white polka dots, my oversize black cardigan, a pair of black converses and my butterfly necklace which I always wear because it is my good luck necklace. Some people may think it's weird that I have a necklace that I wear for good luck but I truly believe it works, besides which it goes with every single outfit that I own. _

_Once I am dressed, I unlock the top drawer of my dresser, and bring out my writer's notebook, the notebook where I write all of my stories in. I'm currently working on a short story, it's kind of a twisted version of Cinderella, in which the Prince is a dark character, rather than being the love of her life, he turns out to be abusive. I never let anyone read any of my stories, because I don't want them to say that they're bad and kill my dream of becoming a bestselling author. I've been dreaming of that since I first learned to read, touching people's lives with the written word would be a dream come true for me. It's never going to happen, most likely I'll never be a famous author but a girl can dream right?_

_I barely hear my mother when she calls me down for breakfast; I'm so engrossed in my twisted version of Cinderella. She has to call a second time before I hear her and then I lock my notebook back in the drawer before making my way downstairs. Rose and Shannon are already there, along with my mom and dad. _

"_Morning" I say._

"_Morning Ginny, why so late for breakfast this morning? Usually by the time we're ready to have breakfast, you've already eaten" Rose says._

"_I was reading and lost track of time" I say. It might not be true, but it's a plausible excuse. I don't even tell people that I write, because then they'll ask to see it and I don't want to show them, so if I ever lose track of time whilst writing, I just say I was reading or doing homework._

"_I had to reheat your waffles, but I think they're still okay" Mom says, placing a plate of waffles in front of me. I squirt some maple syrup onto them, and then spoon out some strawberries before digging in. _

"_So are you going to audition for Glee today then Ginny?" Mom asks me._

"_I already told you I would" I say._

"_Good, it would be great for you to be involved in some clubs at school. You've been at that school three years and haven't joined in on any clubs" she says._

"_Well I'm going to join Glee so you don't need to bug me about it" I say._

"_I wasn't trying to honey; I just get worried about you sometimes. You spend so much time alone, just writing in that notebook rather than actually spending time with people" she says._

"_I like it that way" I reply briefly. It's true; I do prefer my own company to the company of anyone else. You can't get hurt if you don't let anyone close enough to hurt you. _

"_I know you do, but just try. Please, for me?" Mom asks._

"_Fine I will try to make more friends this year" I mutter, knowing that it's never going to happen. I can't make lots of friends; large crowds of people make me incredibly anxious so the largest group of people I can hang around with is maybe four at most. I currently have exactly two friends Sierra Hummel-Anderson, who is really more of an acquaintance than a friend and Jenna Cartwright, a deaf girl, who is just as much of an outcast as I am. Jenna and I have been friends since I was six, and we communicate mainly via sign language which ironically means I can talk to her better than anyone else because we don't speak in the conventional way. _

"_Good" Mom replies. _

"_May I be excused?" Shannon asks. Actually if your sister counts, my friend count is up to three, as Shannon and I are pretty close, we spend a lot of time together talking about books. She always does this, eats barely any of her food and asks to be excused. I'm pretty sure she has an eating disorder, and I would tell Mom and Dad, but it's not my secret to tell. Besides I don't have any actual evidence, just the fact that she asks to be excused whenever there's food around. It's not like I've actually seen her throwing up, and she doesn't seem to be overly thin. I decide to follow her to find out where she's going. To my relief, she hasn't gone to the bathroom, simply upstairs to her room. She's lying on her bed, drawing. _

"_What's that?" I ask._

"_Nothing" she says, sitting up so that I can't see what she's drawing. It's hard to get a read on Shannon, she's very secretive, and she'll never tell you anything unless she wants to. It's understandable, considering what a hard life she had before she was adopted by our mom and dad but sometimes I wish I could just read her mind. _

"_Are you okay? You didn't seem to eat much at breakfast" I say._

"_I'm not hungry" she says averting her eyes away from me and back to her drawing. _

"_You can talk to me, you know that right?" I ask._

"_I don't want to talk to anyone about my problems, I would have thought you of all people would understand about that" she says._

"_I guess I do" I say. _

"_I really don't want to talk, if that's alright" she says. _

"_Fine, we won't talk, I'll just get my notebook and we can sit in silence" I say. We do this a lot, simply sit in silence doing our own thing, I'm usually reading or writing and Shannon is usually reading or drawing. To most people it might seem weird that we can sit in a room together for hours on end and not say a word to each other but we're more comfortable that way since neither of us are big talkers. I go to my room and fetch my notebook and get lost in my twisted Cinderella story, whilst Shannon sketches furiously. _

_A while later, Mom calls us down to leave for school. "You go ahead, I just need to go grab my bag from my room" I say. Shannon looks at me suspiciously, but turns and walks out of the room. Once I hear her footsteps disappearing down the stairs, I jump onto the bed, and look at what she drew. She's drawn a picture of a girl staring in a mirror. This wouldn't be unusual except for the fact that the girl is of ordinary size, and her reflection looks about twice her size. Written underneath the picture are the words, "Self Portrait". Is this really how she sees herself? Or am I just reading too much into this? _

"_Ginny come on! If you want to cycle to school, you need to leave now" Mom calls. _

"_Coming!" I call. I leave the drawing as it was, face down on the bed. I prefer to cycle to school than taking the car, because cycling means I'm not required to talk to anyone. I'm not trying to be rude or anything, I just don't really like talking to people and cycling gives me time to just be alone with my thoughts for a while. Besides since I'm not really big on sports, cycling is a good way of getting in daily exercise. _

_It takes me about half an hour to cycle to school, and as soon as I get there, I immediately head for the library as I do every day before school. The library is my favourite place in the entire school; I can just sit and read or write for hours in there without having to worry about people talking to me, or having to talk to other people. _

_Scanning the room, I spot Jenna sitting alone in the corner of the library. I walk towards her, making sure to approach from the side rather than the back so that she can see me. She hates it when people sneak up on her, so I always make sure than she can see me before approaching her. _

"_Hi Ginny" she signs when she sees me. She taught me some basic sign language when we were little kids and as we grew up, I looked up signs on the internet. I'm pretty good at it by now; I even help out at one of the after school writing classes for deaf kids at Aunt Betty's school. Although I'm not deaf, it's actually a lot easier for me to communicate in this way because it's not talking, at least not in the same way. _

"_Hi Jenna, how are you?" I sign._

"_Good" she signs back. _

"_Me too" I sign. "How's your mom?" I add. Jenna's mom has kidney failure and is currently on dialysis. She'll eventually need a kidney transplant, but neither Jenna, her father or her brother are a match for her. It's hard for Jenna, she's so close to her mom and she hates seeing her in pain and knowing that she can't help her._

"_The same as always, she's no better and no worse" she signs._

"_I could get tested, if you want" I sign._

"_I appreciate that, but it would be weird" she signs back. "Can we talk about something else? How are you?" she signs. I accept the change of subject, knowing that she finds talking about her mom difficult._

"_Sure. What do you want to talk about?" I sign._

"_How are you?" she signs._

"_I'm okay. I'm worried about Shannon" I sign._

"_How come?" she signs back._

"_I think she might have an eating disorder. She barely eats anything at mealtimes and then asks to be excused, and this morning I found a kind of disturbing drawing she'd done" I sign, one of the longest sentences I've ever had to sign._

"_How exactly was it disturbing?" Jenna signs._

"_She drew a picture of herself, standing in front of a mirror. Her reflection was like twice her size" I sign._

"_Was she doing a school project? Like they had to draw what they thought someone with an eating disorder saw when they look in a mirror?" she signs back._

"_I don't think so, this was a personal drawing. Plus she titled it "Self-Portrait"? Doesn't that seem strange?" I sign._

"_A little, but I think you need to talk to her first. Don't jump to conclusions, without speaking to her" she signs._

"_Okay but if I'm still worried?" I sign._

"_Then talk to your parents. If she does have an eating disorder then you need to make sure it doesn't get too bad" she signs._

"_Thanks Jenna, you always give me great advice" I sign._

"_Glad to be helpful" she signs. _

"_I brought something for you" I sign. I take the book out of my bag. It's a first edition copy of Jenna's favourite book, Moby Dick, so rare nowadays since it's such an old book, but I managed to find one at an antique store in Columbus._

"_What's this for? It's not my birthday?" she signs, looking touched at the gesture._

"_I know but you've been through such a crappy time lately with your mom being sick and everything that I thought you deserved something special" I sign._

"_You're the best friend ever, thank you so much" she signs giving me a huge hug. I feel guilty when she says that, because it's not true. Great friends share all their secrets, and whilst Jenna tells me everything, there's one very important thing I'm hiding from her. I'm bi-asexual and yes that's a thing. Bi-asexual means that I'm attracted to both girls and guys, but I'm not interested in having sex. I'm scared of telling people because I don't think they'll believe me. It's not like I know anyone else like me, there might be LGBT kids at this school but they're not Bi-asexual like me. _

"_How's your writing been going?" she signs. _

"_Good, I just started a new story" I sign._

"_Can I read it?" she signs._

"_You know I don't let anyone read my stories" I sign._

"_But I've always wanted to and you know I won't judge" she signs. _

_She makes a good point, I know that she won't judge my stories; I'm just scared of showing them to anyone in case they don't think they're good. It's part of my social anxiety, I'm always scared of being criticised even by friends. _

"_I'm sorry, I just can't. It's nothing to do with you, it's me" I sign._

"_That's okay, I don't want to push you into doing something you're not ready for" she signs. _

"_I will let you read them one day, I promise. Just not yet" I sign._

"_So what are your plans for today?" she signs._

"_The usual, school, oh and I'm going to audition for Glee Club" I sign._

"_I wish I could hear you sing" she signs, looking slightly wistful._

"_You never know, one day you might" I sign, stroking her back comfortingly. I'm never quite sure what to say when she's like this, all I can do is try to comfort her. Her parents can't afford cochlear implants, even though she desperately wants to be able to hear. Our conversation kind of lapses after this, we just sit and read until the bell goes, quite content without signing, comfortable without conversation. This is one of the reasons we're best friends. I sign to Jenna to tell her that the bell has gone and then we walk to History together. We have most of our classes together, which is great because neither of us really like talking to anyone else, me because of my social anxiety and Jenna because of her deafness. It's a myth that deaf people cannot speak, they can, it all depends on the amount of hearing ability they have anyway and when they became deaf. Jenna has been deaf from birth, so she never heard other people's voices and so could not imitate it so she has never learned to speak properly. She can speak, but her speech is fairly unintelligible and she gets embarrassed so she prefers to use sign language but there are deaf people that can speak normally._

_I head to my audition at lunchtime. "Hi Mom, Aunt Rachel" I say as I walk out onto the stage. _

"_Hi Ginny, how's your day been sweetie?" Mom asks._

"_It's been great" I say. I love school, besides I'm really good at it, I spend most of my time studying in order to avoid other people. _

"_Made any new friends?" she asks hopefully._

"_Not yet" I reply. I smile as I notice Jenna walking into the auditorium and start to sign so that she can understand our conversation. _

"_I'm sure she's fine Quinn, you know she's always been on the quieter side. You can't force her to make friends if she doesn't want to" Aunt Rachel says._

"_I know, I just wish she would" Mom says. _

"_What are you going to be singing today Ginny?" Aunt Rachel asks me._

"_Happy Little Pill by Troye Sivan" I say, making sure that I'm looking at Jenna and signing as I speak._

"_Sounds great, let's hear it" Mom says._

_I start to sing, signing as I do so, so that Jenna can understand what I'm saying. I've never tried to sign a song before, so some of the words are probably a little off, but I try my best._

**Ginny:**

**In the crowd alone**

**And every second passing reminds me I'm not whole**

**Bright lights and city sounds are ringing like a drone**

**Unknown, unknown**

**Oh, glazed eyes, empty hearts**

**Buying happy from shopping carts**

**Nothing but time to kill**

**Sipping life from bottles**

**Tight skin, bodyguards**

**Gucci down the boulevard**

**Cocaine, dollar bills**

**And…**

**My happy little pill**

**Take me away**

**Dry my eyes**

**Bring colour to my skies**

**My sweet little pill**

**Tame my hunger**

**Light within**

**Know my skin**

**Like a wreck a floor**

**Sweat and conversations seep into my bones**

**Four walls are not enough**

**I'll take a dip into the unknown, unknown**

**Oh, glazed eyes, empty hearts**

**Buying happy from shopping carts**

**Nothing but time to kill**

**Sipping life from bottles**

**Tight skin, bodyguards**

**Gucci down the boulevard**

**Cocaine, dollar bills**

**And…..**

**My happy little pill**

**Take me away**

**Dry my eyes**

**Bring colour to my skies**

**My sweet little pill**

**Tame my hunger**

**Light within**

**Know my skin**

**Oh, glazed eyes, empty hearts**

**Buying happy from shopping carts**

**Nothing but time to kill**

**Sipping life from bottles**

**Tight skin, bodyguards**

**Gucci down the boulevard**

**Cocaine, dollar bills**

**And….**

**My happy little pill**

**Take me away**

**Dry my eyes**

**Bring colour to my skies**

**My sweet little pill**

**Tame my hunger**

**Light within**

**Know my skin**

"_Well Ginny that was lovely, looks like all that singing in the shower paid off" Mom says. I hide my crimson face under my dark hair so she can't see how embarrassed I am. I like being praised, I do, but I also find it a little embarrassing, like I do not truly deserve the praise that I've been given._

"_Does this mean I got in?" I ask._

"_Yes, you're in Ginny" Mom says._

"_First rehearsal is Friday, at four in the choir room" Aunt Rachel says. "Don't be late" she adds._

"_Oh, please, I'm never late" I say, signing as I go, making Jenna laugh in the slightly strange way that she does, and Mom and Aunt Rachel too. As well as my quietness, I'm well known for my punctuality. I walk over to where Jenna is sitting and we walk out of the auditorium together._

"_Your signing was pretty good, if a little messy in places. I'm sure your voice was pretty too, but I obviously don't know" she signs._

"_Thanks. I know it was messy, I wasn't expecting you to be there and there were some words in that song that I didn't know the signs for" I sign._

"_You did well though" she signs back._

"_I wasn't expecting you to be there, I'm glad you came though" I sign._

"_I wanted to support you, deaf or not. I'm hoping that one day; I'll be able to hear you sing for real" she signs._

"_I hope you will too" I sign back._

"_Do you want to go and get a drink? At the shake shack maybe?" she signs. The shake shack is our favourite place to hang out and do homework after school._

"_Have I ever been known to say no to a chocolate milkshake?" I sign._

"_Never" she signs smiling._

"_Let's go then" I sign and we link arms, walking out of school together._

Shannon's POV

_Flashback_

_I am in bed when I hear the door open, and I duck under my covers when I hear the clicking of my mommy's big shoes walking through the door. _

"_Where are you, you ungrateful little toad?" Mommy calls. I keep quiet, hoping that if I say nothing then Mommy won't hurt me again. It's never worked in the past, but I want it to this time. She falls on the stairs several times, and I hope that each time she does, she won't get up. The clicking gets closer and closer and I have to cover my mouth with my hands to stop from screaming. _

_I hear her opening the door to each room and sink further down under the covers. Eventually, I hear the door to my room swing open. My mommy's heels click toward me, each click making me dig my teeth further into my lip, causing my bottom lip to bleed. She pulls the covers away from me, lifting me up by the collar of my pyjama shirt._

"_When I call for you, you answer!" she yells, slurring her words slightly._

"_I'm sorry Mommy" I whisper quietly._

"_You are such an ungrateful little child. I have given up my whole life for you. Your no-good father left me with you little rat and now my entire life revolves around you! I should have got rid of you when I had the chance" she says. I cower in the corner, waiting for the pain that I know is coming. She lifts my pyjama top up, and turns me around so my back is facing her._

"_Please don't" I whimper._

"_I don't take orders from you, you little whimp" she says. She brings the bottle down hard on my back, the glass shattering into tiny pieces which stick in my back. I sob into my hands, trying not to scream from the pain. My mommy has a smile on her face, I'm not sure why. It seems to please her to hurt me. I hold out my hands, wanting my mommy to comfort me, but she doesn't. She pushes me back down and I scream as my cuts touch the floor. Then I hear the clicking of her heels away from me, leaving me alone like she always does after hurting me._

_End of flashback_

I wake up screaming, looking around my room to check whether my mom is there. I was half expecting to find her face looming over mine, an empty wine bottle in her hand ready to hit me again. Once I'm sure she's not there, I gingerly get out of bed and walk across the hall to the bathroom. I dampen a cloth and wipe my sweaty forehead with it. I turn the light on, and turn to face the mirror. I hate looking in the mirror, the girl I see staring back at me is so ugly. She's fat and disgusting, and no matter how much I starve myself, or exercise, or purge, that doesn't seem to change. I don't want to be that sad, horrible looking girl; I want to look pretty and thin like all the other girls at school and finally be happy. But I can't be happy, because I'm ugly and no one loves me. How could anyone love someone as damaged as me? I lift up my shirt, to reveal the scars that run across my back, faded by now, but still very much there. Each one marks a spot where my mother whacked me with a wine bottle, shows how damaged I am on the outside. But no one can see the scars on the inside, the ones that come from knowing that your mother will never love you, at least not your birth mother, and from hating yourself more and more every single day. I turn away from the mirror, not able to stand looking at my reflection anymore. I turn the water on in the bath, so that what I'm about to do won't be heard by anyone else in the house. Holding my hair back, I lean over the toilet bowl and stick two fingers down my throat, vomiting what little I have eaten today. I feel a great sense of relief once I've done it, knowing I might be that little bit closer to being the girl I really want to be. I wipe my mouth with a bit of toilet paper and then flush the toilet. I'm not stupid, I know what they call it, but is it so wrong to want to be happy? To want to feel thin and beautiful? I don't think so.

I head back to my room, and I jump backwards when I swing open the door and find my mother sitting in the chair next to my bed. "What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I heard you screaming. I came in to see if you were okay, but you weren't here" she says.

"I went to the bathroom" I say nervously, hoping she didn't hear me throwing up.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"I'm fine" I say. I'm really not, but she doesn't need to know that. My mom and I have a difficult relationship, to say the least. She's just so perfect, so beautiful and I would do anything to be like her, rather than the shell of a girl that I actually am. Besides we don't really have anything in common, she was the pretty, popular cheerleader and I'm the quiet, nerdy kid who doesn't like to be around people.

"Are you sure? You had that dream again didn't you? The one with your mom?" she asks.

"You are my mom, she was my mother. Besides, it's not a dream, it's a memory" I say.

"You really should talk to someone about that, it might make you feel better" she says.

"NO!" I snap, suddenly on the defensive. I hate talking to people about my problems, it's none of their business, and it's my life, not theirs.

"It was just a suggestion" she replies softly, but I can see the hurt in her eyes.

"Well I don't need your suggestions! I don't want some stranger prying into my personal business!" I yell.

"It might help you" she says.

"I don't need any help!" I insist. It's not true, I probably need help more than most people but I don't want it. I like to deal with things by myself.

"If you don't want to talk to strangers, then why don't you talk to me? Whatever you want to say Shannon, I will listen" she says.

"I don't want to say anything" I say.

"How can I help you if you don't talk to me?" she asks, frustrated.

"You can't" I say bitterly.

"I could try if you just let me" she says, crying a little.

"I don't want you to! I just want you to leave me alone!" I scream. She turns away, without saying anything and shuts my door gently as she leaves my room. I feel awful for being so rude to her, she saved me from my horrible birth mother, and in return I am an ungrateful child, who doesn't appreciate how good I have it, exactly like my mother said, but in this case it's true. I'm being awful to the woman who saved my life, probably because I'm a disgusting, ugly person. I get out of bed, and lift a loose floorboard. I take out a first aid kit, a bag of used bandages and a razor blade. I roll up my pyjama sleeve, unwrapping the bandages on my left arm to reveal the scars, still an angry red now, but they will fade to white like my older ones eventually, still visible but fainter. I run the blade over my skin, wincing only slightly at the pain. When I first did it, I had to bite my bottom lip to stop myself from screaming, but I've got used to it now. I quickly bandage my arm so that no blood spills anywhere and efficiently work my way upwards, digging slightly deeper each time, and bandaging the previous one before moving on. People might wonder what sick person hurts themselves the way I do, but trust me when I say that most of the time; physical pain hurts way less than emotional pain.

I settle down back into bed, but I can't sleep. I don't want to go back to sleep, I'll just have that nightmare again. I get up out of bed and take a pencil and paper out of my desk drawer. When I can't sleep, I like to draw, although the only thing on my mind right now is my mother. I draw my greatest fear, me lying in bed here and her climbing in through the window to get to me again. Although logically I know it can't happen, I always make sure the window is closed; it's always there in the back of my mind.

I hear three sharp knocks on my door. "Come in" I call, knowing it's my dad, since he's the only one in the house who knocks like that.

"I came to see if you were okay. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up from your nightmare, your mother wanted to speak to you. I guess that wasn't such a good idea, huh?" he asks.

"Not so much" I reply.

"She wants to help you because she cares" Dad says.

"I know that" I say. I really do, that's why I feel so bad when I get angry at her. "You're not going to ask me about it are you?" I ask.

"No. In fact I just thought I'd sit here with you until you fell asleep" he says.

"Thank you" I say, smiling at him. He pulls up the chair next to my bed and takes my hand, watching as I slowly drift off to sleep.

When I wake up the next morning, my dad is lying next to me. It takes me a moment to work out why he's there, but then I remember the second nightmare I had during the night, the one where my mother came into my room and strangled me to death, well almost, I woke up before she crushed my windpipe. I wish there would be a night where I could just go to sleep without her invading my dreams. Even though I was adopted eleven years ago, it feels like she's still with me, haunting me.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" Dad asks me, stroking my hair.

"I'm fine, I didn't have any more nightmares after that last one" I say. "Do you mind Dad; I need to get changed for school?" I add.

"No problem. I'll be downstairs, helping your mom with breakfast. Be down in half an hour okay?" Dad says.

"Okay Dad, I will be" I say. As soon as he leaves, I start to rummage through my closet to find an outfit to wear for today. I decide on a pair of blue skinny jeans, my multi-coloured tank top, my oversized green off the shoulder sweatshirt, a pair of green converses, my mockingjay necklace and a bracelet that my parents gave me with the name Beth on it. I have no idea who Beth is, or how my parents know her, but it's a pretty bracelet so I wear it anyway. I take a quick shower, before changing into my outfit. After I've showered, I spend the rest of my time before breakfast, reading my assigned book for English at the moment, Looking For Alaska. I quite like it, it's better than the Fault In Our Stars anyway, although I'm not sure that John Green is my favourite author. I much prefer Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games books, they're my favourites, hence my mockingjay necklace. I almost hope that my parents don't call me for breakfast, so that I don't have to eat, or pretend to eat. On days when I'm feeling especially fat, I won't eat at all, I'll just cut my food into really tiny pieces so it looks like I'm eating but really I won't eat anything. Whatever I do eat usually comes straight back up less than five minutes after breakfast anyway. Alas, I'm out of luck and my dad calls me down to eat exactly when he said he would.

I walk downstairs, taking my seat at the table between Rose and my dad. Ginny isn't here yet, which is surprising because she's usually here. "I'm sorry if I upset you last night Shannon" my mom says.

"It's okay" I mutter softly. I feel worse about yelling at her, I'm sure.

"I do think that therapy might help you, but if you don't want it, then I promise I'll stop bugging you about it" she says.

"Thank you" I say, although I'll believe that when I see it, Mom's been bugging me about going to therapy for years. She places a plate of waffles in front of me, waffles with a huge amount of whipped cream on top of them, and strawberries. Before I started watching every single calorie I ate, I would have loved a meal like this. Now, it just looks like one giant lump of fat staring at me, daring me to eat it. It's probably my overactive imagination but to me it looks like the fat is dancing around on the plate, taunting me. I'm desperately hungry, I'm always desperately hungry, the only thing on my mind is food, but I can't. I know the calories of every single item on that plate. I carefully pick off the strawberries, and eat those, before slicing my waffle into tiny thin pieces, and moving it around on my plate. If I see my mother, or father looking at me, I will shove a piece of waffle in my mouth and then spit it out as soon as they look away. Rose keeps talking enough to hold their attention, and me I just stare into space.

Once Ginny comes downstairs, everyone's attention is on her, and so I can simply just not touch my food and no one notices. I excuse myself, and make my way upstairs. I can't help myself, I feel so guilty about eating even those few strawberries, that I make myself sick again. I make my way back to my room, and settle down on my bed, starting to draw furiously. Ginny comes in, and starts questioning me about why I left breakfast so abruptly but I simply avoid the question and tell her I don't want to talk. Unlike with Mom, with Ginny that excuse actually works, and she simply goes to get her notebook and sits there writing as I draw. I draw what I see when I look in the mirror, the fat girl that is reflected back at me.

I finish the drawing just before Mom calls us for school. I head out, whilst Ginny hangs back, saying she needs to get her bag. I'm not sure if I believe her, but I walk downstairs anyway. Ginny cycles to school, so she'll be making her own way there, whereas Mom drives me and Rose, so I can't stick around to check if she's snooping or not, as I really have to go, or I'll be late.

Rose chats mum's ear off on the car ride to school, which works well for me because it means that I don't have to talk at all, I just work on one of my comic strips for comic club until Mom's car pulls into the parking lot at school. Rose and I both say goodbye to Mom, before jumping out of the car. As soon as Rose spots her friends, she runs over to them without even turning to talk to me first. Not that I care, Rose and I aren't really that close. As I always do, I head for the school library, my favourite place in the entire building. I can do all my favourite things there, read, draw, even do a little programming on the computers sometimes and I don't have to talk to anyone, it's perfect. I go over to the bookshelves and scan them for a book that I think looks interesting and take a seat in one of the comfortable chairs in the corner of the library and start to immerse myself in the book. I jump when I feel a tap on my shoulder, as I had not heard anyone coming up behind me.

"Interesting book?" the girl asks. She's not a girl that I've seen before, she must either be a transfer or a freshman, although it wouldn't surprise me if she was older, I keep myself out of most of the social parts of school life, so I honestly don't know a lot of people at this school.

"Yeah it's great. Sorry, you are?" I ask, a little confused.

"Your new girlfriend?" she asks raising her eyebrows and smirking in a way that shows me she's joking. She actually makes me laugh, quite a feat considering I haven't really properly laughed in years.

"I meant your name" I say.

"Oh, it's Samantha Reynolds, but no one ever calls me Samantha, only my mother when she's really angry with me, so you can call me Sammy" the girl says.

"Nice to meet you Sammy, my name's Shannon Puckerman" I say, holding out my hand for her to shake. She shakes it vigorously, and again I can't help but smile at her enthusiasm, it's very endearing. I hadn't noticed until now just how cute she is, she has these cute tight blonde ringlets, her heart shaped face, silvery-grey eyes and pale, freckled skin. Her fringe falls just over her left eye, and she has a cute little beauty mark on the left side of her mouth.

"You're staring" she remarks, smiling teasingly.

"You're…..very….uh pretty" I stammer, feeling my face turn bright red.

"Thank you, so are you" she says, although a lot more easily than I managed. I wish I could be that confident. I also wish I knew whether she meant that in a purely friendly sense, or if she meant it as in a she likes me and thinks I'm cute kind of a way.

"What was that book you were reading anyway?" she asks.

"Inkheart by Cornelia Funke" I say.

"The one with the girl who can read characters out of a book? That's a good one" she says.

"You've read it?" I ask.

"I've read all of them actually, I love reading. My mom says that my first word was 'book'" she says, laughing.

"Don't tell me what happens" I say.

"I won't, I would never deprive you of the joy of finding out for yourself" she says.

"So are you are transfer? I just haven't seen you around before?" I ask.

"No, I've been going her since last year, I'm a sophomore" she says.

"You don't sound like you're from Ohio though" I say.

"That's because I'm not, I'm from Maryland. Baltimore" she says.

"What brought you out here then?" I ask.

"My sister got a new job in Columbus, so she moved us all out here" she says.

"All? How many of you are there?" I ask, intrigued.

"Six, I have five siblings" she says.

"Wow big family" I note.

"Yeah, my parents weren't very good on the whole birth control thing" she says, laughing, but there's a slight hint of resentment underneath it.

"Wait you said earlier that your mom calls you Sammy when she's angry, but just now you said that your sister moved you out here, so you must live with her. Where are your mom and dad?" I ask.

"This week? I think they're in Costa Rica, but it could be Portugal? I'm not entirely sure, I lose track" she says. "As for your second point, I did live with my sister, but I don't anymore, I have my own apartment" she says.

"So your parents travel?" I ask.

"They're journalists; they travel all over the world for work. They're at home maybe 2 weeks out of the entire year? It's been like that ever since my sister was little, as soon as they got jobs after college. They would go out on assignment to some far off country, come home for two weeks, Mom would get pregnant, they'd go back out, travel for as long as they could and then Mom would have the baby, whichever one of us it was. Then they'd come home, pawn us off on Grandma, and then go out again. My grandma basically raised my four older siblings. After Grandma died, we would shuffle from friends house to friends house until my eldest sister was old enough that she would look after all of us" she says.

"So you and your parents aren't close then?" I ask.

"Hardly, I barely know them, they've been gone most of my life and that's not an exaggeration. We get the odd phone call, a letter and email or two, but that's about it" she says.

"So how come you live on your own and how do you afford it?" I ask. I'm probably being too nosy towards a girl I only just met, but she really intrigues me. I should ask whether she likes girls, I know I should, but it doesn't seem like the right time. I'm pretty sure she was flirting with me earlier but I can't be sure.

"It's a long story" she says.

"I've got time. If you want to tell me that is, I don't want to force you" I say.

"No it's okay, you'd probably find out soon enough anyway. I went to a party my freshman year, and this guy slipped something in my drink when I wasn't looking. I went completely out of it, and when I woke up I was on someone's bed, naked and had no idea what had happened to me. I found out I was pregnant about a month later. I was too scared to get an abortion and you need the father's consent to get an adoption, and I didn't even know for sure who he was really, I had my suspicions but I never actually saw him spike my drink so that wasn't really possible. So I kept my daughter, and moved into a one bed apartment, which I can just about afford on my savings and my part time job as a waitress" she says.

"Why didn't you just stay at home? It would have been easier?" I ask.

"Easier in that I'd have a lot of help, but you've got to remember that there were six of us in that house, so it was kind of crowded and a little overwhelming when I had just had my daughter" she says.

"What's her name?" I ask.

"Liberty Rose Reynolds, but I call her Libby" she says.

"That's so pretty" I say.

"You want to see a picture?" she asks. I nod, and she takes her phone out of her pocket, bringing up a photo of her with a cute toddler sitting on her lap, she looks very much like Sammy, the same blonde ringlets, the same silvery-grey eyes. "She's a cutie" I comment.

"Yeah, she's great when she's not screaming at two o'clock in the morning to be fed, or have her diaper changed, or just because she thinks that Mommy is having too much sleep and we couldn't have that" she says, laughing good naturedly.

"I'd say I understand, but my sisters are the same age as me so I've never really experienced the whole baby thing" I say.

"The only experience I had before I had Libby was babysitting my little sister, but when you have a baby of your own, you kind of have to learn fast!" she says.

"So what about the rest of your family?" I ask.

"My family's house is called the madhouse because there's so many of us, and at holidays it's even worse, we have a lot of extended family, plus friends, so put it this way, the house is never empty. I have two older sisters and an older brother, and a younger sister and a younger brother" she says.

"So you're the middle child?" I ask.

"Yeah, which is why most people say I got pregnant at 14, you know classic middle child syndrome, wanting mom and dad's attention because they pay more attention to the older and younger siblings than you which is obviously completely ridiculous, but anything so that people don't have to admit that date rape is still a problem" she says.

"People can be such idiots" I say.

"Tell me about it, I get so freakin' sick of everyone staring at me when I'm out with Libby like I'm some slut and chose to have a kid at fourteen. Anyway, I won't talk about that because it just makes me angry, you were asking about my siblings. My eldest sister is 25, her name is Marie, she's the head chef at this fancy restaurant in Columbus. Her cooking is so good, which is one of the reasons why I go over to my family's house for dinner every night, aside from the fact that I can't really afford food, since most of my money goes on rent. Then there's my older brother Leon, he's 23, he's at law school at OSU, he's at school most of the time and when he's at home, he's studying so we don't really see him that much. My other older sister Violet is 21; she's at the University of Cincinnati, studying medicine. She's a walking, talking trivia encyclopaedia, and she's smart as a whip, you can't get anything past her. My younger brother Rowan is 12, we're like best friends, I think if it's possible he reads more than I do, and my younger sister Mia is 6, she spends most of her time doing ballet" she says.

"I'd love to meet them, I mean only if you'd like me to, of course" I say. Her family sounds like a lot of fun, and I feel a little envious. I love my family, but Sammy sounds like she has real comraderie with her family that I just don't have. I love my dad and Ginny and I are sort of close, but I've never been able to bond with my mom and Rose in the same way so our family isn't quite as connected as it sounds like hers is.

"Sure, how about you come over to my house, say next Friday? Violet and Leon come home on Fridays so we have a weekly family Friday night dinner, and then you'll get to meet them too. It's not a Reynolds family experience if the whole of the Reynolds family isn't there. You can even meet Libby if you want to" she says.

"I'd love that" I say smiling. I'm too nervous to ask if this counts as a date. I guess it doesn't because it's with her family, but I kind of hope it does. I find her really cute, oh my gosh, can she tell how cute I find her? Am I being too obvious? Should I just ask her out already? I can't do that though, no one knows I'm gay. If I'm seen out with her then people will start talking and I don't want that. I have survived at this school by remaining invisible and if people find out then I won't be anymore. Stop it Shannon, you're being ridiculous, you don't even know if she's gay. Should I ask her? I should ask her. No I shouldn't. Yes I should. Oh come on Shannon you really want to know, I tell myself.

"Are you gay?" I blurt out, immediately covering my mouth and feeling my cheeks turn red. I can't believe I actually asked. What if she isn't? I'm going to feel so crappy if she's actually straight, although I swear she's been flirting with me, so if she's not a lesbian, I'm pretty sure she must be at least bisexual.

Luckily for me, she lets out a good-natured laugh. "What gave me away? she asks.

"Just a feeling" I shrug.

"I won't tell anyone that you are if you don't want me to" she says.

"How did you know?" I retort.

"The fact that you turned all red when you asked me if I was, was a pretty big clue. You also seem really interested in finding out about me, you told me I was pretty and you can't stop staring at me" she says.

"Am I that obvious?" I ask.

"Kind of" she says, laughing a little. "So I've told you all about my family, why don't you tell me about yours?" she says.

"Mine really isn't that interesting. My dad coaches the Cleveland Browns and my mom is the drama teacher here, she starting up glee club again too" I say.

"Is your mom Mrs Puckerman?" she asks.

"Yeah that's her" I say.

"I love her, she's one of my favourite teachers" she says.

"That's Mom, everybody loves her" I say, trying not to sound bitter because Mom is everything I'm not, and everything I wish I could be.

"Do you have siblings?" she asks.

"Two, Rose and Ginny, they're twins. Ginny and I are quite close, but me and Rose not so much, she's very…well she's a character. You'd understand if you met her. They're both 16 too" I say.

"How can you and your siblings all be 16? You're not triplets are you?" she asks.

"No, I'm adopted, Mom and Dad adopted me when I was four" I say.

"How come? Oh shit, I shouldn't have asked that, I'm really sorry, you've only just met me and here I am asking you about something really personal. I'm sorry, I get total foot-in-mouth disease sometimes" she says.

"It's fine, I don't mind you asking, but I don't want to talk about it. Not until I know you better" I say.

"I completely understand" she replies. "So this Glee Club your mom is starting, what is it?" she asks.

"It's a singing and dancing group basically, we compete in competitions against the best show choirs in the country, at least if you get to Nationals" I say. "Do you sing?" I ask.

"A little, but I don't really have time to join any clubs, what with my waitressing job and Libby" she says.

"I just wanted to know" I ask, trying not to grin hugely. Not only is she cute, she loves to read and she sings as well. This day could not be going better considering that it started off so horribly. Of course, just then the buzzer goes so we have to head off to class. I don't think I've ever been so annoyed that a conversation was over.

"What do you have?" I ask her.

"English, you?" she asks.

"Honours Biology" I say, sighing because this means that we can't walk to class together. She takes a notebook out of her bag, tears off a piece of paper and hands it to me.

"Call me" she says, winking before tossing her blonde curls over her shoulder and walking away. I'm pretty sure she knows I'm watching her as she walks away, because there's a little swing in her hips. I swear I can't stop smiling for the entire morning, even during lessons that I hate, because I'm thinking about her cute smile, and her silvery grey eyes, that are so beautiful, I could just fall into them. It means all my teachers call me out for being distracted in class, but I don't care.

I'm still feeling elated when I head for my Glee audition, which maybe isn't the best mood to be in for the song I'm going to sing, as it's a very emotional song, but it always makes me think of my birth mother, so I probably have the emotion side of this covered, as thinking about my mother always reminds me of how much I hate myself. Somehow, thinking about Sammy has made me forget that, if only for a little while but it's going to take a hell of a lot more than one beautiful girl to make me forget all the bad things I feel about myself.

"Hi Mom, Aunt Rachel" I say as I walk onto the stage.

"You look awfully happy, what happened?" Mom asks.

"She looks like she met someone, who are they?" Aunt Rachel asks. I appreciate that she didn't automatically say he, and assume the person that I have a crush on is a guy, but I'm not exactly going to announce to my mom on stage during my glee audition that I'm a lesbian. It's not the right time.

"I don't want to say" I say, shyly.

"I'm sure she'll tell me later" Mom says to Aunt Rachel. I don't say anything to that. I won't tell her later, and if I was going to tell anyone about my sexuality then it would be my dad, not my mom.

"Can I just sing?" I ask, not wanting to talk about my love life.

"Sure sweetheart, what are you going to sing?" Aunt Rachel asks.

"Bring Me To Life by Evanescence" I say.

"That's a beautiful song, let's hear it" she says.

I walk over to the piano and nod to the piano player to signal that she can go. I take her seat behind the piano, and start to play. As I sing, memories flash through my mind, some that I didn't even know I had, of all the times that my birth mother abused me.

_Shannon:_

_How can you see into my eyes like open doors?_

_Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb_

_Without a soul my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold_

_Until you find it there and lead it back home_

_(Wake me up)_

_Wake me up inside_

_(Can't wake up)_

_Wake me up inside_

_(Save me)_

_Call my name and save me from the dark_

_(Wake me up)_

_Bid my blood to run_

_(I can't wake up)_

_Before I come undone_

_(Save me)_

_Save me from the nothing I've become_

_Now that I know what I'm without_

_You can't just leave me_

_Breathe into me and make me real_

_Bring me to life_

_(Wake me up)_

_Wake me up inside_

_(I can't wake up)_

_Wake me up inside_

_(Save me)_

_Call my name and save me from the dark_

_(Wake me up)_

_Bid my blood to run_

_(I can't wake up)_

_Before I come undone_

_(Save me)_

_Save me from the nothing I've become_

_Bring me to life_

_(I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside)_

_Bring me to life_

_Frozen inside without your touch_

_Without your love darling_

_Only you are the life among the dead_

_All this time I can't believe I couldn't see_

_Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me_

_I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems_

_Got to open my eyes to everything_

_Without a voice, without a thought, without a soul_

_Don't let me die here_

_There must be something more_

_Bring me to life_

_(Wake me up)_

_Wake me up inside_

_(I can't wake up)_

_Wake me up inside_

_(Save me)_

_Call my name and save me from the dark_

_(Wake me up)_

_Bid my blood to run_

_(I can't wake up)_

_Before I come undone_

_(Save me)_

_Save me from the nothing I've become_

_Bring me to life_

_(I've been living a lie, there's nothing left inside)_

_Bring me to life_

I have to wipe the tears from my eyes at the end of the song, so that my mom won't see me crying and worry about me. She's constantly worried about me, and whilst she might not be wrong in doing so, it's kind of irritating.

"What did you think?" I ask.

"Your voice may not be as strong as Amy Lee's but wow you definitely poured the emotion into that song, we could use someone like that" Aunt Rachel says.

"You're in Shannon, we'll see you at rehearsal on Friday, in the choir room at four" Mom says.

"Thanks" I say, rushing out of the auditorium before either of them can say anything else. All I can hear is my birth mother's words in my head, "you worthless little rat", "you ungrateful little toad", "you little whimp", "cowardly, good for nothing child" and countless other things to that effect, that made me feel awful, because I'm such a horrible person that my own mother couldn't love me. My birth mother wished I was dead, and I shouldn't care, because I know she was a terrible human being, but still, it's hard not to feel worthless when your own mother hated you. I shake my head, trying to stop the memories from overwhelming me, but I can't. So I do the only thing that I can do to stop pain. I reach into my bag and pull out the first aid kit I carry, which contains my razor blade and bandages. I unwrap the bandages from my left arm, and start to draw the razor across my skin. With each cut, it feels like the memories of my birth mother float away, and the only thing I can focus on is the physical pain of the cuts. I wrap each cut carefully with new bandages and then pull down my sleeves, so no one can see them. Finally I allow myself to cry, throwing myself to the bathroom floor, in fury and in sadness for my mother who is out of my life and yet somehow still manages to define it, even twelve years later.

**Brant's POV**

_Flashback_

"_Come on guys, if we don't leave now we're never going to make it up to the mountains in time" I call from the cab of the car. To celebrate Christmas, we're driving up to my family's cabin in the Appalachians, and it's about a five hour drive away, so we need to head off if we're going to make it there before dark. It took me forever to convince my moms to let me go, and they only agreed in the end because Mara is 18, and therefore it wouldn't be me, Kelli, Seth, and Skip (her real name is Caroline, but she hates the name and thinks it sounds too old fashioned, and so she was nicknamed Skip because she was very bouncy and excitable, and the nickname stuck) who are all 15, along with me. _

"_Chill out Brant, we'll make it in plenty of time" Kelli says, throwing yet another bag into the back of Mami's truck. We're only going away for a week, but you would think by the amount of luggage that the girls have brought that we're going away for a year._

"_Are you done yet?" I ask; we've been loading the back of the truck for about an hour._

"_We've just got two more bags to get and then yes, we're done" Skip adds._

"_Do you really need all those bags? Seth and I only have one bag each" I say._

"_Yes but you're boys. Girls need shoes and clothes for all possible weathers" Kelli says._

"_What possible weathers? It's winter, there's one weather, cold" I say._

"_No, there's rainy, snowy, cold, light breeze or mild" she says._

"_See this is why I don't get girls" I say, laughing a little although it worries me that I've never got girls. I like them, but I don't feel the way I know I'm supposed to about them. I keep telling myself that I just haven't met the right girl yet, but I'm pretty sure that's not true. I find guys attractive, and I know I do, but I keep denying it because I'm too scared to admit what it means. I don't want to be rejected by everyone. Well I know I won't be rejected by my moms, but I don't want to be rejected by everyone else. _

"_What are you thinking about?" Seth asks, punching me in the shoulder._

_I shake my head, bringing myself back to the present. "Nothing, just sick of waiting for the girls" I say, lying._

"_Yeah, I know, they always take forever" he says. Just then Skip, Kelli and Mara come out of the house, carrying a bag each._

"_I thought you said there were only two bags left?" I ask._

"_Yeah I guess we forgot about one. Can you take this? It's really heavy" Kelli says, handing me the bag she's carrying. I haul it into the back of the truck and then take the bags from Skip and Mara too, gesturing for them all to get into the truck whilst I finish up loading. _

_A few minutes later we are finally out of the driveway and on our way to the cabin. We have the radio on up loud the whole way there, singing along at the tops of our voices, and chatting about our plans for our week at the cabin, mostly eating and drinking seeing as it's Christmas, but we also want to enjoy the mountains, so we've planned to go hiking, and rollerblading, weather permitting. _

_We arrive at the cabin just as the sun is going down, and it takes us a while to unpack the car given how much stuff the girls have brought. It's really cold in the cabin, so I light the fire and we all gather round. _

"_What should we do first?" I ask._

"_I think we should play truth or dare" Skip suggests, and everyone cheers. Truth or dare is kind of a staple of our sleepovers, we always play it, although usually it's after we've started drinking, because we're more honest once we've had a few. Kelli grabs a bottle and places it on the floor before spinning it. It lands on Skip._

"_Truth or dare Skip?" Kelli asks._

"_You know me, I always like a good dare" she says, winking._

"_I dare you to eat this marshmallow out of my bellybutton" she says, holding up a mini marshmallow. _

"_You're on" she replies. Kelli lies down on the floor and places the marshmallow in her belly button. It's kind of gross to watch, since she wedges that thing right in there, but eventually Skip gets the marshmallow out._

"_Your turn to spin Skip" Kelli says. Skip spins the bottle and it lands on Mara. _

"_Truth or dare Mara?" Kelli asks._

"_Truth please" Mara says._

"_So boring but I'll bite. If you had to date anyone in this room, here now, who would you date?" she asks._

"_Skip" she says, smiling._

"_You can't choose your girlfriend, that's cheating" Kelli says. Okay so maybe Mara and Skip would be okay with me being gay, but I highly doubt that Kelli and Seth would be. _

"_I don't care, she's the hottest one in this room" Mara says, leaning into kiss Skip. First it's just a quick peck, but then they start full on making out._

"_Get a room" Kelli says, making fake sick noises._

"_Please don't, your room is next to mine remember that" I say only half joking. I'm still scarred for life from that one time I walked in on them. Mara and Skip laugh good naturedly before pulling apart._

"_Your turn to spin honey" Skip says, stroking her shoulder. Mara spins the bottle and it lands on me._

"_Truth or dare Bran?" Mara asks me._

_I like a risk, so without thinking, I immediately go "Dare"._

"_I dare you to kiss Seth" Mara says, smiling gleefully. Does she know?_

_I look at Seth, and he shrugs his shoulders, giving me a look that says "I'm game if you are"._

_Hesitantly, I lean over toward Seth and gently place a peck on his lips before pulling away again. "That wasn't a proper kiss!" Mara complains. _

"_Yeah do it again, with tongue this time" Skip says._

_Seth and I look nervously at each other and Seth shrugs, shooting me another look that says "Make it fast". Our lips meet again, for longer this time. It's amazing, like nothing I've ever felt before. Seth pulls away after a few seconds although I wish it could continue. _

"_Wow that was some kiss. Have you been hiding something Brant?" Kelli asks._

"_No!" I exclaim although I realise afterwards that I shouldn't have been so indignant. It just looks more suspicious. _

"_Leave him alone guys, he doesn't have to tell us anything he doesn't want to" Mara says and I share a grateful look with her. "_

"_How about we get some drinks?" Skip says, changing the subject so some of the pressure is taken off me. She goes to the fridge and takes out a couple of beers, handing them round. She pops the tops off everyone's._

"_Merry Christmas everyone" she says and we echo this sentiment, clinking beer bottles._

_It all escalates from there and several rounds of beer later, when all of us are decidedly drunk, we start to slur along to songs on my IPod. _

Kelli:

Singing radiohead at the top of our lungs

With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love

Got a bottle of whatever, but it's getting us drunk

Singing here's to never growing up

Skip:

Call up all our friends, go hard this weekend

For no damn reason, I don't think we'll ever change

Meet you at the spot, half past ten o'clock

We don't ever stop, and we're never gonna change

Mara:

Say, won't you stay forever, stay

If you stay forever hey

We can stay forever young

All:

Singing radiohead at the top of our lungs

With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love

Got a bottle of whatever, but it's getting us drunk

Singing, here's to never growing up

Seth:

We'll be running down the street yelling "Kiss my ass!" (He pulls down his trousers, mooning everyone before Skip tugs them back up because no one wants to see that!)

I'm like yeah whatever, we're still living like that

When the sun's going down, we'll be raising our cups

Singing, here's to never growing up

All:

Oh whoa, oh whoa, here's to never growing up

Oh whoa, oh whoa, here's to never growing up

Brant:

We live like rock stars, dance on every bar

This is who we are, I don't think we'll ever change (hell no!)

They say just grow up, but they don't know us

We don't give a fuck, and we're never gonna change

Mara:

Say, won't you stay forever stay

If you stay forever hey

We can stay forever young

All:

Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs

With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love

Got a bottle of whatever, but it's getting us drunk

Singing, here's to never growing up

Seth:

We'll be running down the street, yelling "Kiss my ass!" (At least he doesn't pull his pants down this time)

I'm like yeah whatever, we're still living like that

The sun's going down; we'll be raising our cups

Singing, here's to never growing up

All:

Oh whoa, oh whoa, here's to never growing up

Oh whoa, oh whoa, (yeah raise your glass and say) here's to never growing up

Oh whoa, oh whoa (da de da de da) here's to never growing up (no we're never growing up)

Oh whoa, oh whoa, here's to never growing up

_Once we finish singing we fall to the floor giggling, and then we continue singing along to my IPod until the five of us pass out by the fire. _

_I am awoken by a wind battering against the cabin in the middle of the night. The others are all still asleep, but I've always been a light sleeper. I hear a banging against the door, which doesn't sound like the wind. It sounds like someone bashing in the door. I shake Kelli awake._

"_What?" she asks grumpily._

"_Did you hear that?" I ask._

"_What?" she asks._

"_The banging" I say._

"_It's just the wind, go back to sleep" she mumbles._

"_No, it sounded like someone trying to get in" I say._

"_You're just being paranoid" she says. After she says that, another loud bang echoes on the door._

"_You heard that right?" I ask._

"_Still just the wind, Bran" she replies. The next bang brings the door falling inwards and Kelli and I both scream. We see a silhouette in the doorway, a dark shadow, of what looks like a man but we cannot be sure._

"_What the hell you guys?" Skip asks waking up at the sound of our screams. _

"_Look up" I say, gesturing towards the door._

"_We have an intruder" Kelli says. The figure walks towards us and the three of us back up toward the wall. It's only when he steps into the light of the fire that we can finally see his face. _

"_Mason?" Kelli asks._

"_Who's Mason?" I ask._

"_Mara's ex-boyfriend" the man says. He's a tall intimidating kind of guy, with close cropped dark hair and large muscles. He has a beard that looks like it has seen better days, and piercing grey eyes. _

"_But Mara's gay?" I ask._

"_She didn't know that, so she made a complete and utter fool out of me, before deciding to dump me for a girl. So I've come here to get my revenge" Mason says, smiling creepily. _

"_I'm sure she's really sorry about that, so why don't you just make up and leave us alone?" I ask, hopefully._

_No such luck. His grey eyes turn thunderous, and he grabs Skip from the spot where she's sitting, holding her by the collar of her shirt. She kicks her legs out, trying to hit him so that he'll drop her._

"_Stop wriggling" Mason growls._

"_Not a chance in hell" she says, trying to aim her kicks at his balls. _

"_So where did we get on the whole leaving thing?" I ask._

"_I'm not leaving until I've got my revenge. That starts with the bitch who stole my girlfriend" he says. He reaches into his pocket, and as he brings it up, lightning strikes outside the cabin, illuminating the knife that he has pulled out._

_Kelli and I scream once again, waking up Mara and Seth._

"_It's just a little lightning guys, you don't need to scream so loud" Mara says._

"_In case you haven't noticed Mara, your psycho ex-boyfriend is here, and he's attempting to kill your girlfriend" I say. She turns to see Mason who is holding a knife to Skip's throat._

"_Put her down you bastard!" she screams._

"_Okay" he says shrugging. He draws the knife across Skip's throat, and she falls to the floor, dead before she can even scream. Mara screams, loud enough to shake the cabin. She tackles Mason, trying to bring him down but he's too strong for her. _

"_You said to put her down" he says, flashing a creepy smile at her. _

"_That wasn't what I meant!" she says, throwing a punch at his nose. The crack as it breaks echoes around the cabin. _

"_You deserve it! You broke my heart, so I broke yours, and now I'm going to break you. Bitches like you deserve to die. Join your precious Skip, you bitches deserve each other" he says. He grabs her by the neck and starts to squeeze. She tries to scream, but she can't his hold is too tight. Kelli, Seth and I huddled by the fire, worried that Mason is going to come after us next. We all watch in horror as Mason squeezes Mara's next tighter and tighter, until eventually she drops to the floor like a rag doll, landing next to Skip in the blood that is pooling from the wound in Skip's neck.  
"Who's next?" Mason asks, his eyes sparkling. He almost seems to be enjoying this, but I guess that's the kind of sick guy he is. _

"_You got what you wanted. Mara and Skip are dead, so leave us alone. NOW" I say, standing up and facing him. I stare right into his eyes, trying to show that I'm not scared of him._

"_I don't think so. There's nothing to stop the three of you from telling the police what I've done. So I have to kill all of you. I think I'll leave you for last so you have to watch your friends die" he says, pushing me back down. He grabs Kelli from where she's sitting beside me. Seth grabs a poker from the fire and creeps up behind Mason, trying to knock him out with it, but Mason notices and kicks him in the balls, sending him sprawling to the floor._

"_Put her down, and I don't mean kill her" I say, glaring at him. _

"_Not a chance" he says. I grab for the hand holding his knife, and twist it, so hard that I break his wrist but he doesn't let go of Kelli or the knife. He simply switches hands and rams the knife into her stomach before I can stop him. He grabs me and ties me up with a length of rope from his pocket. "Now you can't stop me from killing your other friend" he says. He's right, but he can't stop me from screaming. I yell for help, over and over. I watch with wide eyes as he plunges his knife into Seth's stomach, but I never stop screaming. _

"_SHUT UP!" Mason yells, clamping his hand over my mouth. He holds his knife to my throat and I immediately stop screaming. But I'm not going to let it end like this. I refuse to let my friends have died for nothing. I scan the room to see if there is anything I can use to untie my hands. The only problem is that Mason still has his knife to my throat. I kick out with my legs and send him sprawling to the floor. I spot a pair of nail clippers that Skip left lying around earlier and shuffle towards them my hand closing around them. Mason gets back up quickly and soon his knife is against my throat again. I feel it dig in slightly deeper, and work quickly, clipping strands of rope. The knife draws a spot of blood, and I increase the pace, eventually managing to get myself out. As soon as I do, I don't even take a moment to look back at my dead friends, I just run._

_I hear Mason's footsteps following mine, but I keep focused on the path ahead, through the forest, aiming to get to the nearest town and tell the police about Mason. I run for what seems like forever and eventually I take a moment to stop, thinking I've got rid of Mason. But when I turn around he is standing right behind me. _

"_You really thought you could get away from me? Stupid kid" he says. I step away from him, preparing to run again, but he grabs me by the collar, and pulls out his knife. I close my eyes, not wanting to see the moment the knife goes into me. Instead, I feel the knife cut across my left cheek and am slightly confused as to why he hasn't killed me. I shouldn't have been under any illusions, as soon as I open my eyes; he pulls me into a chokehold._

"_I'm really going to enjoy this" he says, closing his hands around my neck. Just when I feel like I'm about to pass out, I hear a loud crash from behind me, and my neck is suddenly free. I turn around, seeing a young man, leaning against a snowmobile. _

"_Thank you. Who are you?" I ask._

"_Eric, I'm a search and rescue scout. I heard screams from the cabin and thought I'd come to investigate but by the time I got there, I spotted you running through the woods with that guy chasing after you, so I followed you to make sure you were okay. We should get you to a hospital, that cut is going to need stitches" he says._

"_We need to call the police, my friends in that cabin are all dead" I say, barely able to say it, let alone believe it._

"_Let's take care of you first, then we'll go to the police" he says._

"_But what about him? He's going to get away" I say._

"_He'll be out for a while yet, I'm sure the police will find him. Hop on" he says. I jump on the back of his snowmobile and he starts to drive away. Out of the corner of my eye, as we're leaving, I spot Mason getting up and taking a running leap into the sea. _

_I should be thrilled. This is all over and Mason is dead. But what if he isn't? What if he never leaves me alone? _

_End of flashback_

**I wake up sweaty and screaming. I have this nightmare in various incarnations every night. Sometimes it's just individual deaths, Mara's, Skip's, Kelli's or Seth's; sometimes it's more than one. Sometimes it's Mason cutting my face, or him jumping off the cliff. It's rare that I have the nightmare the whole way through, the entirety of that day, but it does happen. Those are the worst. It's been almost a year since they died, they died the Christmas of my sophomore year, but I still miss them. I feel like it's my fault, I should have done more to save them, and that's why I have these dreams. A knock at my door breaks my out of my reverie. **

"**Come in" I call. Lexi walks into my room. **

"**I heard you screaming, are you okay?" she asks.**

"**I'm fine, I just had the nightmare again" I say.**

"**Do you want to talk about it?" she asks.**

"**No" I reply sharply. I never talk about Mara, Skip, Kelli or Seth. It's too hard, and too horrible to talk about them. All it does is remind me that they're gone and how they died. Sure I have lots of wonderful memories of them, but they're all overshadowed by that night in the cabin. "What did you want to talk to me about?" I ask.**

"**How did you know I wanted to talk to you about something?" she asks.**

"**Because I have nightmares every night and barely ever have you come to check on me" I say.**

"**Okay you got me. I wasn't going to talk to anyone about this but I can't sleep thinking about it, so I need to tell someone" she says.**

"**I'm listening" I say. Lexi and I may not be biological siblings (none of us are) but we're as close as, me, Morgan and her. **

"**Okay so I overheard Mami talking on the phone yesterday and she's been lying to me, they both have. They do know who my dad is and they haven't told me. For 16 years they've lied to me!" she says.**

"**Who is he?" I ask.**

"**Well not only do they know who he is, I know who he is, and so do you. I've known him all this time, but never known that he was my dad" she says.**

"**So who is he?" I ask.**

"**It's Uncle Kurt, Uncle Kurt is my dad" she says. **

"**Are you serious?" I ask, slightly disbelievingly.**

"**I overheard Mami! She said and I quote 'I don't want to keep you from your daughter Kurt'". **

"**Is this so terrible? You know Uncle Kurt, you like Uncle Kurt, at least you won't be starting a relationship with someone you don't know, he's always been in your life" I say.**

"**I know, but I don't want our relationship to change" she says.**

"**It might change for the better" I say.**

"**Or it could be totally awkward and never the same again" she says.**

"**I doubt that will happen, Lexi" I say.**

"**I'm not mad that Uncle Kurt is my dad, I'm angry that he, Mami and Mom, knew all this time and they never told me" she says. "Plus it's going to be so weird seeing him and Abby, Sierra and Freya now. What am I supposed to do? Pretend like I don't know that we're related?" she asks.**

"**Maybe you need to talk to him about it" I say. **

"**Maybe. I can't believe Mami and Mom kept it from me!" she says indignantly.**

"**They just wanted you to be their daughter, and not see Mom as more your Mom than Mami" I say.**

"**But I would never have done that. If they'd told me that Uncle Kurt was my dad then they'd still be my moms, I'd just have been able to have a dad too" she says.**

"**I think the three of you need to talk, maybe you'll understand better when you talk to them" I say.**

"**I don't think I'll ever understand. Imagine if it was your dad, and you realised you'd known him your entire life, and they hadn't told you that he was your dad, would you understand?" she asks.**

"**I suppose not, but you should at least hear them out. They have been there for you for the past sixteen years after all. And as for Kurt, there's no reason why you can't have a father-daughter relationship, if that's what you want. Mami and Mom can't stop you from having that kind of relationship with him, if that's what you want" I say.**

"**Thanks Bran; that was good advice" she says, giving me a hug. She turns to get up, but I pull her back. **

"**Will you stay with me please? I don't want to have another nightmare" I say. She nods, and climbs into the other side of the bed, wrapping her arms around me, and softly humming into my ear until we both fall asleep.**

**Lexi is already gone by the time I wake up, but that's no surprise, she's always an early riser. Me, I like a good lie in. I walk downstairs, and Mom, Mami and Morgan are all sitting around the kitchen table, but there is no sign of Lexi.**

"**Where's Lexi?" I ask.**

"**At the Lima Bean with her new boyfriend" Morgan says.**

"**Boyfriend?" I ask.**

"**Okay, well, he's not her boyfriend, but she has a crush on a guy from Dalton, someone called Kyle. She left well before six this morning" Morgan says.**

**I'm happy for Lexi, but I hope this one really does like her, she's kind of naïve and most of the boys that go out with her use that to their advantage. It goes like this, she falls for them, they use her, and then they dump her and leave her heartbroken, I kick their asses and she moves onto to the next loser. I hope this guy is different but I'm not holding my breath, my sister attracts losers like moths to a flame. **

"**What about you Brant? Anyone special?" Morgan asks.**

"**Nope, no one special" I say. It's true, although what I don't mention is that even if there was someone special, I couldn't go out with them because I'm gay and no one knows about that. "What about you Mo?" I ask.**

"**No one special, guys tend to not like the geeky girls in cinema club" she says. **

"**You're too good for half the guys in our school anyway Mo" I say.**

"**Yeah and if I was dating someone then you'd have to work overtime, between Lexi's losers and whatever guy I manage to attract" Mo says, laughing. It's true, I'm very protective of my sisters, even if Lexi is actually a couple of months older than I am, I act like the older brother to both of them.  
"Well then all you need to do is not go out with a loser who's going to break your heart then I don't have to deal with it, right sis?" I say, teasingly punching her arm.**

"**Right bro" she says, punching me right back in the same teasing manner.**

"**Are you planning on joining Glee Club?" Mo asks me.**

"**Yeah, I think so, I told Hanna and Remy that I would" I say. "What about you?" I ask.**

"**I'd like to, yeah" she says. "Although I don't think any of my friends from Cinema Club will be joining" **

"**I'm sure you'll make friends in Glee, Morgan. We certainly did" Mom says kissing Mami.**

"**Eww, I love you guys but can you save the PDA for when you're alone?" Mo says, making gagging noises.**

"**You just wait until you have a boyfriend, or girlfriend, then we'll be the ones teasing you about all the PDA" Mom says ruffling Morgan's hair. I shouldn't be worried about what my mom's will think about me being gay; they'd be cool with it. It's not really them I'm worried about, it's everyone else. I don't want everyone to see me differently just because I like guys and I know they will. I've seen what happens to gay kids at our school, even now, when being gay is a pretty accepted thing in society. I guess there will always be some bigots somewhere, who think that who I am is wrong. **

"**So how's school going? Mo? Brant?" Mami asks.**

"**It's fine I guess, I'm still getting above C's in all my classes so I can keep being on the swim team. We've got a big meet coming up next week, so I'm focused on that right now" I say.**

"**School's fine, I'm hoping to make honour roll this year" Mo says. **

"**Well you weren't far off making it last year were you?" Mami asks.**

"**No, but I'm hoping I'll actually do it this year" I say.**

"**I have an early class this morning; can you drop me off at work on your way to school Brant?" Mami asks. Both Lexi and I have our driver's licenses but we only have one family car, and then Mom's second hand Mini, so we have to share Mami's car. **

"**Sure" I say. "Let me just go and get ready" I add. Unlike Mo, and my moms, I usually have breakfast in my pyjamas and then get changed afterward, so I head back upstairs to my room. I quickly pull on a blue t-shirt, a pair of jeans and my black converses, grab my bag from where I always leave it on my desk chair, and head back downstairs.**

"**Ready to go?" I ask. Mami and Mo nod, and we head out to Mami's truck, me getting in the driver's seat, Mami in the front passenger seat and Mo in the back. Mom leaves later than us because her rehearsals don't start until later. On the way to school we mostly talk about classes and our planned auditions for Glee Club. Mo happily talks about the films they're planning to watch in cinema club, and the books she's currently been reading. We also talk about Mami's dance classes, and Mom's show. **

**I drop Mami off at her dance studio first, before driving myself and Morgan to school.**

"**I can't wait until I turn 16, I really want to be able to drive" she says.**

"**Well you're learning to drive so it's not like you can't drive at all" I point out.**

"**I know but I'd like to be able to drive wherever I want like you can" she says.**

"**It is pretty awesome. It would be even better if I could have my own car, and not have to share with Mami all the time, but you can't always get what you want" I say.**

"**Maybe you should save up for one?" Mo suggests.**

"**Where would I get enough money to do that?" I ask.**

"**You could ask Mami if she needs help at the studio?" she suggests.**

"**I can't exactly teach little girls how to do ballet" she says.**

"**How about at the leisure centre? You could see if they need a swim coach assistant? That way you could make some money and it would look good on your application for a swimming scholarship for college" Mo suggests.**

"**You are a genius Mo! If I wasn't driving I would hug you right now" I say. **

"**No problem" she replies. A few minutes later we pull into the parking lot of McKinley. We share a hug and then Morgan heads off to find her friend Clara from cinema club, and I head to my Math class. When I get to the classroom, I take my seat next to Travis and we spend most of our time talking. The day seems to pass incredibly slowly, until finally the buzzer for the end of the day goes. I head over to the auditorium for my Glee audition.**

"**Hey Brant, nice to see you" Aunt Rachel says.**

"**Nice to see you too" I say. **

"**Any chance any of your other jock friends want to try out? Remy brought Hanna along yesterday, but Mike says that your friends Tami and Kendall are both pretty good dancers" Aunt Quinn asks.**

"**Yeah they're not interested, they think Glee Club is for losers" I say.**

"**Oh well, it was good that you came, maybe some of the swim team will be inspired to join when they see how good you are" Aunt Rachel says.**

"**Yeah, let's hear your song Brant" Aunt Quinn says.**

**I hand the sheet music to the piano player, and nod to her when I'm ready to start. Then I just sing, pouring as much emotion as I can into the song. It's not about dead friends, but I feel that the emotion I feel from my friends' murders really helps me with the song.**

_Brant:_

_I do what he says but I_

_end up falling off the edge_

_I don't know what to do, never seems_

_To end up being true_

_Seeps in underneath the door_

_Sinks in and stains the floor_

_I don't know what to feel takes so long_

_For these wounds to heal_

_Tell me it's not really real_

_Fallen through_

_Why did I fall for you_

_Fallen for_

_All the lies, alibis, that you said_

_Left me holding on by the last thread_

_Stop, stare and watch me burn_

_Someday it'll be your turn_

_Can't fool me, I can see all the things_

_that you don't want me to see_

_You threw my heart away_

_That's the price I paid_

_I know it's never fair, promised me _

_You'd always be there_

_But you never really cared_

_Fallen through_

_Why did I fall for you_

_Fallen for_

_All the lies, alibis, that you said_

_Left me holding on by the last thread_

_Fallen through_

_Why did I fall for you_

_Fallen for_

_All the lies, alibis, that you said_

_Left me holding on by the last thread_

_Fallen through_

_Why did I fall for you_

_Fallen for_

_All the lies, alibis, that you said_

_Left me holding on by the last thread_

"**Wow Brant, I've never seen you sing with that much emotion. Where did you get that from?" Aunt Quinn asks.**

"**I was just thinking about some old friends of mine" I say. It's the truth, just not the entire truth.**

"**Well it really worked, you sounded wonderful. You're in Brant; we'll see you at the rehearsal on Friday. 4 o'clock in the choir room" Aunt Quinn says.**

"**Thanks a lot" I say. I say goodbye to both Aunt Quinn and Aunt Rachel before heading over to the swimming pool. I love to swim, it helps me to clear my head, and I never feel freer than when I'm in the water. I go into the locker room and change into my swim trunks, before heading out to the pool. I dive in and start to swim up and down the length of the pool. I keep swimming for about an hour, before getting out of the pool.**

**I am walking toward the locker room, when I hear footsteps behind me. I turn and see a tall, blonde, muscular guy following me, in a pair of swim trunks. He has a rather fantastic six pack, I note, with pleasure.**

"**Can I help you?" I ask, rather rudely.**

"**I just wanted to say that I think you're a great swimmer" he says. **

"**Thank you and you are?" I ask.**

"**Jensen Scott, I'm on the swim team" he says.**

"**I'm on the swim team, how come I've never noticed you before?" I ask.**

"**Maybe you weren't looking hard enough" he says winking. **

"**Seriously though, are you a transfer?" I ask.**

"**No, I'm a senior and I've been here since my freshman year. I don't blame you for not knowing who I am though, it's not as if I interact much with juniors and there are a lot of guys on the swim team" he says.**

"**Still you'd think I'd remember someone as hot as you" I say.**

"**Well you do make a good point" he says, making me laugh. **

"**So did you ever notice me before?" I ask.**

"**I wouldn't have come over to you if I hadn't" he says.**

"**So did you just come to talk to me about my swimming?" I ask.**

"**Not exactly. I kind of noticed you at the end of last year, and I thought you were cute, but I was too nervous to ask you out. I spotted you swimming today, and I thought that if I didn't ask you out now, I never would" he says.**

"**Oh I don't know, I'm not exactly…..out" I say.**

"**We could just go out as friends….if you want. To a movie or something? And maybe see where it goes from there?" he asks.**

"**I'd like that. I'll text you my number?" I say.**

"**Great. See you around Brant" he says.**

"**See you around Jensen" I say. **

**I may not be out yet, but maybe being gay isn't so bad, especially when cute swimmer guys ask me out!**

**Sierra's POV  
**_Flashback_

_I can hear the noise from my bedroom. I don't like it, it's too loud. Andre is having another one of his parties, like he seems to all the time. It's so hot in here, I can barely breathe. I get up from my bed, and walk out of my room, squeezing through the gaps in the crowd of the party to get outside, being little has its advantages, and no one notices a four year old. Once I'm outside the house, I take a deep breath, breathing in the cool clean air, and it's such a relief compared to the hot musty air inside the house. I walk down the street, careful not to go too far away from the house because Tasha always told me it's bad to go too far away from her and Andre. I could get hurt. I walk to the end of the street and am turning to walk back home when someone grabs me from behind. I scream, but he covers my mouth with his hand._

"_Quiet" he yells in my ear, so loud that I have to cover my ears with my hands._

"_Leave me alone" I murmur shakily, the words coming out all muffled because his hand is still covering my mouth._

"_But I just want a little fun" he whispers in my ear. His breath smells familiar, like Andre's always does, but with a little something extra mixed in. _

"_LEAVE ME ALONE!" I yell, but my cries are muffled by his hand. He pushes me down to the ground. I kick out with my legs trying to stop him but he's too strong for me, and he pins me by my wrists. I scream loudly, taking advantage of the fact that his hand is no longer covering my mouth. _

"_Shut up you little brat!" he says, but I refuse and keep on screaming. He reaches under my dress, into my underwear. I kick out and keep on screaming, but that doesn't stop him from touching me there. His fingers feel all hot and sweaty._

"_GET OFF ME!" I yell, but he slides his fingers even further into me as I struggle against him, kicking with my legs, scratching with my nails, even biting him as a way of getting him off me, but he won't. He starts to kiss me as a way of getting me to stop screaming. I try to push him away, but he's too big. I bring my knee up, aiming between his legs and I hear him cry out, so I know I've hit my target._

"_Well you're just a little bitch aren't you?" he says. I try to run away, but he chases after me, hobbling a little, but he manages to catch up and pin me down again._

"_You thought you would get away from me? You would be wrong" he says. _

"_HELP ME!" I yell, as he sticks his fingers into me once more. _

"_I've pleased you, now I think it's time for you to please me" he says._

"_HELP ME!" I scream louder. He pulls his pants down, and then forces me to touch him. I pull my hand away, screaming louder. _

"_Fine you won't play ball, I guess I'll just have to keep going" he says, pulling his pants back up. He keeps touching me, and I keep screaming, and kicking trying to fight him off. He pulls his pants down, and then pulls my dress off, then my underwear. I scream again, loud enough to wake the entire neighbourhood. He tries to force himself onto me, but I keep kicking and biting and scratching, anything to stop him. _

"_HELP ME!" I yell again. I keep yelling this over, and over, until finally I hear footsteps coming towards me. _

"_Oh my goodness" a woman's voice says. I feel her hands underneath my arms, pulling me away from the man. She helps me put my dress and underwear back on. _

"_Did he hurt you?" the kindly woman asks me. I nod, hands shaking, unable to speak because my throat is so sore from screaming. She takes her phone out calling 911._

"_Do you want me to take you home sweetie?" she asks._

_I shake my head; I don't want to go back to that house with all the noise and the smell, the horrible smell, like the evil man. _

"_Okay then, I'll take you back to my house, once they've taken the horrible man away" she says. She sits with me until the police come, and cart the creepy man away for good, and then she picks me up and takes me over to her house, where she makes me a big mug of hot chocolate._

_Then she sits with me, and comforts me, whilst I cry all night long._

_End of flashback_

**I wake up, screaming and searching my bedroom for him. But then I remember I'm not in my childhood bedroom anymore, that I'm safe in the room that's been mine for the past eleven years, and my dads are down the hall, and he's in jail, not in my room with me. I look at the time on my watch. It's 4am but I don't think I'm going to be getting back to sleep, so I go to my wardrobe and change into my ballet leotard. I put on my grey crop top, black leggings and a pair of trainers over the top. Then I take my dance bag out of my wardrobe, put in my ballet shoes, and then stuff my clothes for school in the bag, a grey knitted skater dress, a pair of black leggings, my timberland style heeled boots, my red snapback &amp; my brown leather jacket. On my way out, I grab a towel from the airing cupboard and some shampoo and conditioner from the bathroom. I carefully walk downstairs, trying not to wake up Dad or Abby, Freya is most likely already gone to visit her mother's grave again. We'd offer to go with her, but she's very secretive about her mother and kind of sensitive about the whole subject, so we just don't talk about it, even though we all know where she sneaks off to. **

**I go into the kitchen and take an apple from the fridge, to eat on my way to the dance studio. I slip my trainers on, and then go to the garage to get my bike out. **

**It takes me about 15 minutes to cycle down to Uncle Mike's studio, and I unlock the door, using the spare key that Uncle Mike gave to me. I head to one of the practice rooms, and take my crop top and leggings off so I am just wearing my leotard. I slip my ballet shoes on and then for an hour I practice my classical ballet, one of the sections for my grade 8 exam. I like ballet well enough, but it's not my favourite type of dance, I don't feel like I can express myself as much in ballet as in contemporary. After I've practiced my ballet, I put my crop top and leggings back on, and place my IPod in the docking station, playing one of my favourite songs. I sang this the second night after I came home with Dad and Pops, and we really connected, so it's always meant a lot to me.**

_Sierra:_

_Listen to the song here in my heart_

_(I do a pirouette)_

_A melody I start but can't complete_

_(I run backwards, and then lift up my right leg, holding it above my head as I spin)_

_Listen, to the sound from deep within_

_(I stretch upwards, bringing my hands up above my head and perform another pirouette)_

_It's only beginning_

_(I bend backwards into a back bend)_

_To find release_

_(I stretch back up, releasing my arms, and perform a series of three spins)_

_Oh, the time has come_

_(I do a series of split leaps towards the front of the studio)_

_For my dreams to be heard_

_(I stretch out to one side, and then turn to face the mirror, punching my arm out)_

_They will not be pushed aside and turned_

_(I stretch upward, lunge with my head back, and then take a few steps forward, and lunge to the side, my arms outstretched in a pushing motion)_

_Into your own_

_(I slide across the floor on my knees and then stretch my legs out into a pike position, my hands reaching out and touching my feet)_

_All cause you won't_

_(I do a backward roll out of the move)_

_Listen_

_(I walk backwards with my left hand outstretched)_

_Listen, I am alone at a crossroads_

_(I run forwards and then perform two split leaps, and then I place one leg on the floor with my hands grasping that leg, and move the other leg upwards spinning it around. I then perform a cartwheel)_

_I'm not at home, in my own home_

_(I do 3 drag splits across the floor, dragging myself forward with each one)_

_And I've tried and tried_

_(I lift my left leg up above my head and spin on one leg going clockwise)_

_You should have known_

_(I spin around, landing on my side)_

_Oh, now I'm done believing you_

_(I lift my left leg up, and roll so I'm sitting on my side, then I push myself up, so I'm sideways with my right hand pressing on the floor, and then I push myself back up)_

_You don't know what I'm feeling_

_(I fall forwards, and then I take a step backwards, with my left leg in the air and then I turn so my back is facing the mirror)_

_I'm more than what you made of me_

_(I spin, then I bring my right arm down in circle, I turn to my left, with my right arm facing forwards and my legs split apart, then I bring my right arm back up again, turning to face the mirror)_

_I followed the voice that you gave to me_

_(I turn so my right leg is bent forward and my left leg is straight behind, my arms in a bent Y shape above my head. I then bring my arms down and together, bending my right leg forward and left leg back as I lower to the floor. I then put my arms down and bring my legs in towards them. I then stretch my right leg out with my left leg bent beneath me. I bring my leg down, leaning toward the floor)_

_But now I gotta find my own_

_(I come up, so I am on my knees, both facing toward the left with my left arm pointing in the air. I roll onto my feet, turning as I come up)_

_You should have listened_

_(I stretch my right leg upwards with my right arm pointing upwards and my left arm pointing back, and then I do a forward roll from that position, landing on my back with one leg straight and the other leg up in the air)_

_There is someone here inside_

_(I bring myself into a squatting position, and circle my left arm backwards and then the right one)_

_Someone I'd thought had died_

_(I turn to my left and bring my leg up in an arabesque. I lift my leg above my head and spin)_

_So long ago_

_(I do a pirouette)_

_Oh, I'm screaming out, and my dreams will be heard_

_(I run with my arms outstretched and when I reach the mirror perform a star jump)_

_They will not be pushed aside on words_

_(I bring my arms down in a cross, and then fling them back with my head down. Then I move my hands across my body to my right in a pushing motion, and then I spin on my right leg, with my left arm pointing straight up, my left leg bent behind me, and my right arm pointing out to the side)_

_Into your own_

_(I walk a few steps forward and reach out with my left hand, my right hand touching my left shoulder)_

_All cause you won't_

_(I run a few steps to the edge of the studio)_

_Listen_

_(I balance on my right leg and kick my left leg upwards, my left arm pointing straight up, and my right arm pointing straight down)_

_Listen, I am alone at a crossroads_

_(I spin, then perform three split leaps, spinning between each one, and finish in an arabesque)_

_I'm not at home in my own home_

_(I do three drag splits across the floor, dragging myself forwards with each one)_

_And I've tried and tried_

_(I lift my left leg above my head and spin on one leg going clockwise)_

_To say what's on my mind_

_(I perform a pirouette)_

_You should have known_

_(I kick my left leg up, leaning back as I spin around)_

_Oh, now I'm done believing you_

_(I lean forward, with my arms behind me, then I bring them forward, I turn and take a step to the side, with my right leg pointing out above the floor, and then I side step into a butterfly jump, my right leg landing first then the left. I spin on landing)_

_You don't know what I'm feeling_

_(I run forward, and slide down onto my knees, reaching forward with my arms)_

_I'm more than what you made of me_

_(I lean backwards, pressing my arms down on the floor, and then I bring my legs up so I am in a bridge position. I kick my left leg over first, then the right so I land in the splits)_

_I follow the voice you gave to me_

_(I do 3 split leaps across the floor, my arms reaching out)_

_But now I gotta find my own_

_(I do 3 pirouettes in a sequence)_

_I don't know where I belong_

_But I'll be moving on_

_If you don't _

_If you won't_

_(I perform several spins, with my right leg kicking out and then coming in again for this sequence, and my arms out in a circle in front of me)_

_Listen to the song here in my heart_

_(I do another pirouette)_

_A melody I start_

_(I do a series of side steps, swinging my arms up and down as I go)_

_But I will complete_

_(I perform 3 split leaps, and land on my knees, reaching upwards)_

_Oh, now I'm done believing you_

_(I lift my left leg up and spin on one leg for three rotations)_

_You don't know what I'm feeling_

_(I fall to my knees and then onto my stomach, dragging myself forward with my arms reaching out)_

_I more than what you made of me_

_(I walk forward, and kick my right leg out, then my left, switching legs with each step until I reach the mirror)_

_I followed the voice you think you gave to me_

_(I jump in the air, with my left leg bent forward and right leg bent back, and spin in the air, landing in the same position)_

_But now I gotta find my own_

_(I pull myself down into the splits, then I roll over onto my back, and to end the routine bring my legs into my chest)_

**I think that maybe the best routine I've ever done, even better than the one I practiced yesterday that I thought I was going to do for the showcase. This would be even better for the showcase, because this song means so much to me and so I can put more emotion into the routine than I could with the other one. I take a shower in the studio locker rooms and wash my hair, before drying myself off. Then I change into my school clothes, except keeping my trainers on because I can't cycle in heeled boots, and cycle the ten minutes home. **

**When I get home, there's still about an hour before my dad makes breakfast, so I go up to my room and record some songs to put up on my YouTube channel, as well as practicing my audition song. I've had a YouTube channel for two years, and I'm hoping that one day I'll be discovered, like Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen, 5 Seconds of Summer or Charice, but I'm even better obviously. I want to be as big as Beyonce (although that's not exactly possible, no one could compare to Queen Bey), but I want to be able to get out of this state, and travel the world, and have several number one albums. It's a big dream, but I know it's going to happen, because I'm going to make it happen.  
"Si? Are you coming for breakfast?" Abby calls from outside the door. **

"**Coming, I just need to do my hair" I call.**

"**Okay well be quick, Papa made waffles" she calls back. I quickly blow dry my hair, and then straighten it, before walking downstairs into the kitchen.**

"**You took your time" Pops says.**

"**Sorry, I was practicing my audition song for Glee and I lost track of time" I say.**

**He places a plate of waffles in front of me, covered in maple syrup and strawberries. "Your favourite" he says.**

"**Thanks Pops, this looks great" I say, digging into the food.**

"**I heard you leaving early this morning, not that long after Freya. Where did you go?" he asks. **

"**I just went to the studio a little earlier than normal, I couldn't sleep" I reply. **

"**I heard you scream, did you have the nightmare again?" Pops asks.**

"**I don't want to talk about it" I say, my walls immediately going up, as they do when anyone asks about that night. **

"**It might help you if you talked to someone about it?" Pops suggests gently.**

"**I don't want to, okay, enough people know about it already without adding a shrink into the mix" I say.**

"**Well if you ever do want to talk about it, you know I'm here right?" Pops asks.**

"**I know Pops, thank you" I say. **

"**Did you see Freya on your way out?" he asks.**

"**No, she was either still up in her room or gone by the time I left. I suspect she was gone though" I say.**

"**She does know that she doesn't have to sneak out right? We don't mind her going to her mother's grave" Pops says.**

"**I think she does it because she doesn't want to talk about her mother, and she knows that if she told us she was going there then we'd want to go with her, so it's just easier to sneak out" I say. **

"**Maybe I should drive us down to the Cemetery, see if we can find her and talk to her?" Abby suggests.**

"**No, give her some time and space. Let her come to you, if you go to her then all she's going to do is push you away" Pops says.**

"**But Pops, you've been waiting six years for Freya to open up to you and she still hasn't. Maybe she needs a little nudge?" I suggest.**

"**No she doesn't. You two can understand how emotionally traumatised that poor girl is, especially you Abby, so we will wait, and one day whenever that is, she will be ready to open up to us and accept us as her family, but if you push her then all you are doing is pushing her further away" he says.**

"**I guess" I say, although I really just want her to talk. She might act all tough, but I'm sure that's just a cover. We want to do as Dad asked us yesterday, and try to get closer to Freya, but she won't let anyone get close to her. I'm her sister, and to be honest, I can't say I know anything about her that other people wouldn't. **

"**How did your practice go CeeCee?" Pops asks me.**

"**It went well actually, my grade 8 routine is coming together quite nicely. I'm obviously not as good as Freya but then no one is" I say.**

"**You could always ask her for help you know, she'd probably agree, even if she doesn't like spending time with people she loves ballet" Pops says.**

"**Maybe I will" I say. I know Abby plans on asking Freya for help with her exam routine, so it couldn't hurt for me to ask too could it? That way we could all spend time together, like Dad wants. We all excel in different areas of dance, Abby is amazing at contemporary (I love it too but I'm not as good as she is), my best area is hip-hop (since hip-hop and street are the dance styles we do in McKinley Mixers, my dance troupe) and Freya is incredible at ballet, she's already taking her Advanced 1 exam which is part of the Vocational Syllabus, something Abby and I haven't even started on yet, even though at our ages, we could have taken all our exams by now. **

"**Good, it will be good for you to spend more time together" Pops says.**

"**Yeah well she hasn't said yes yet" I mutter under my breath, although Pops pretends he didn't hear me, I know he did.**

"**How's McKinley Mixers going CeeCee?" Pops asks.**

"**It's going great thanks dad, we're practicing for a big dance competition in January, and it's going to be amazing!" I say, happily. **

"**With that and Glee Club, you look set to have more championship titles this year" he says.**

"**That's the plan" I say. I'm nice sure, but when it comes to dance, or anything performance related, I want to win, there's no doubt about that.**

"**Si we should probably get going, I don't want to be late for school" Abby says, checking her watch for the time. I nod, and follow her out to Dad's clunker, and we set off for school. We mostly chat about our big ballet exam and how our practice is going, as well as my audition for Glee Club. I can tell that Abby wants to ask me about my nightmare, but thankfully she doesn't. That was a dark time in my life, and I just don't like talking about it, any more than Abby or Freya like talking about their own experiences. I suppose it's kind of ironic that our dads ended up with three daughters who all went through similar things in their childhood before they were adopted, although Abby and Freya have it worse than I do, I didn't know the man who abused me. **

"**Are you okay?" Abby asks me, and I realise that I've zoned out.**

"**I'm fine" I reply forcing myself to smile. "How are you doing with the whole looking for your mom thing?" I ask.**

"**I dug out my birthday cards from her and got her address, and wrote a letter to her last night. I'll have to post it this afternoon and it might take a while to get to her, but at least it's something" she says.**

"**I'm sure she'll reply to you" I say.**

"**I hope you're right" she says. We're both quite quiet for the rest of the drive, each pulled into our own thoughts. I'm a little jealous of Abby, and Freya, not of their dads, they were both douchebags, and I know what it's like to have a dad, but of their moms. It's pretty clear that Abby's mom loved her, otherwise she never would have sent her here, and I know that Freya's mom loved her, if she didn't then Freya wouldn't miss her so much, but I never had a mom. Well obviously I did, but she died when I was only one, so I can't remember her. I have pictures of her, and I make up stories in my head of what she was like, but I'll never really know. The closest thing I ever had to a mom was Tasha, and that didn't exactly work out well. I love my dads, but I just wish that I had a mom sometimes, even if Dad is good at all the girly stuff that me, Abby and Freya like to do, it's not quite the same. **

**The silence starts to feel a little uncomfortable, so I turn on the radio, and find a station where a song that both Abby and I like is playing. We sing at the tops of our voices until we reach the parking lot at school. "I'll see you later" I say to Abby, giving her a hug.**

"**Okay, meet you here at four?" she asks.**

"**That would be great" I reply. **

"**CeeCee" I hear a voice call from across the parking lot. I spot Sydney Lawson, one of my best friends from McKinley Mixers. I would walk over to her, but I know she'll just come running over to me, so I wait, and sure enough she does. Sydney is great, she's lovely person, if a little hyper and excitable. **

"**Hey Syd, how are you doing?" I ask her.**

"**Great, I just found out that my mum got me tickets to see The Lion King in the West End for my birthday" she says.**

"**But your birthday's not until April" I reply.**

"**Who cares? I get to go see my favourite West End show with my best friends! You'll come right?" she asks. **

"**You know I will" I say. **

"**So how was your weekend? I didn't see you yesterday, so I didn't get to ask" she says.**

"**It was the same as every weekend is, you know, practicing for my grade 8 exam mostly, and doing homework, the usual" I say.**

"**I went back home at the weekend, got to see some of my old friends, went shopping on Oxford Street, we went to see Wicked, it was so much fun. I forget how much I miss London until I go back there, the energy, the people, there's nothing like it" she says.**

**I should explain, Sydney's originally from London, but her dad got a job over here a few years ago, and so she had to move. She's always going on about how much she loves her home city, which can be kind of irritating, but it's understandable, after all London sounds like a hell of a lot more fun than Lima. **

"**How's Charlotte?" I ask. Charlotte is Sydney's younger sister; she's in my grade, whereas Sydney is a Junior.**

"**She's great, she's got a new boyfriend" she says.**

"**That was fast; I thought she just broke up with the old one a few weeks ago?" I say.**

"**She did, but this isn't some guy she just met. His name's Josh, they've been friends since they were little kids. Okay so they're not actually boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but they've been texting non-stop ever since we got home, so it's definitely heading in that direction" she says.**

"**Good for her. What about you Syd? Anyone new in your life?" I ask.**

"**No, not since that last douchebag dumped me for a Cheerio. Why? Do you know anyone?" she asks eagerly.**

"**Yeah I think I just might" I say.**

"**Could you introduce us?" she asks.**

"**Sure, I'll see if she'll go out for coffee with us this afternoon" I say, laughing at her enthusiasm. **

"**She?" she asks.**

"**That's okay right? You are still bi aren't you?" I ask worriedly.**

"**Of course, you know what I say, why limit yourself to 50 % of the population…" she says, but I interrupt her.**

"**When you can choose from 100%" I say.**

"**Damn straight. It wasn't that, it was just that I haven't been out with a girl in a while that's all, but I mean if you know a hot one….." she says.**

"**Oh she's hot alright" I say and Sydney raises her eyebrows at me. "I mean if you're into that kind of thing" I say, making her laugh.**

"**I got what you meant, I'd love to meet her" she says.**

"**Okay, I have History with her after break so I'll ask her then" I say.**

"**Thanks CeeCee" she says.**

"**Don't mention it, that's what friends are for" I say. **

"**So how's your solo going?" she asks.**

"**Huh?" I reply.**

"**Your solo? For our routine for McKinley Mixers?" she asks.**

"**Oh man, I haven't even done much work on it this week, I've been so focused on practicing my grade 8 routine and my audition for Glee Club" I say.**

"**Oh Meghan's going to kill you! I had to some practice time in between going to London, but I have to say I haven't practiced much either so she'll kill me too. Wait what's Glee Club?" she says.**

"**It's like a singing and dancing club, you perform as a big group and compete in competitions and stuff" I say.**

"**That sounds like so much fun! When are auditions?" she asks.**

"**I think they end today, why do you want to join? It's a little short notice to perfect an audition song" I say. **

"**Oh please, I've had all the songs from the Lion King memorised since I was six, I could perform any one of them in my sleep" she says.**

"**Well I'm going to my audition at lunchtime, so you can come with me, if you want" I say.**

"**I think I will. It's going to be so much fun doing duets together, because you can bet we'll be the most talented girls in that club" she says.**

"**Damn right!" I say, and we both laugh. We stop at our lockers to get our things, and then we both separate off in different directions, me to my Math class, and her to her History class. **

**I hate school, I'd much rather be performing than spending all day behind a desk. The morning seems to drag by so slowly, but eventually, the buzzer that signals the start of lunch rings. Sydney meets me in the girls' bathroom and after I change into my dance clothes, we walk over to the auditorium together.**

"**Hi Aunt Rachel, Aunt Quinn" I say. Unlike most of the glee kids, Aunt Rachel really is my aunt, given that she's my dad's step-brother's wife. Aunt Quinn is just an honorary aunt though, like all of the other Glee kids' parents are to me. **

"**Hey Sierra, nice to see you. I see you brought a friend?" Aunt Rachel says.**

"**This is Sydney Lawson" I say. **

"**She's in my drama class" Aunt Quinn whispers to Aunt Rachel.**

"**Will the two of you be auditioning separately or together?" Aunt Rachel asks.**

"**We'll be auditioning separately" I say.**

"**And who wants to go first?" she asks. Sydney nods at me to indicate that I can go first if I want to.**

"**I will" I say. Sydney walks off into the wings. **

"**What will you be singing?" Aunt Quinn asks.**

"**Shark In The Water by VV Brown" I say. **

"**Let's hear it" she says.**

**I nod to the sound guy to put my backing track in and then the music starts, and I begin to sing and dance. My routine is a hip-hop routine, and so involves a lot of break-dancing, popping, jerking, locking, and quite a few gymnastic tricks. **

_Sierra:_

_Sometimes I get my head in a dilly_

_Feeling so lost, ticking you off_

_Now boy, you know me well_

_Said, I'm that kind of feeling_

_That kind of soft, that kind of silly_

_But when I'm in doubt, I open my mouth_

_And words come out, words come out like_

_Baby, there's a shark in the water_

_There's something underneath my bed_

_Oh, please believe I said_

_Baby, there's a shark in the water_

_I caught them barking at the moon_

_Better be soon_

_High in the sky, the song that I'm singing_

_A sweet little lie, I cry wolf, I cry_

_Rabbit out of the hat, yes, so that's why I'm bringing_

_Some tricks up my sleeve, for noticing me_

_It wouldn't cause you any harm, I just want you in my arms_

_I can't help, I can't help myself_

_Baby, there's a shark in the water_

_There's something underneath my bed_

_Oh, please believe I said_

_Baby, there's a shark in the water_

_I caught them barking at the moon_

_Better be soon_

_(Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do)_

_(Better be soon)_

_(Do, do, do, do, do, do, do)_

_(Do, do, do, do, do, do, do)_

_Right is right_

_Rules are rules_

_This is more like April Fool's_

_I'm just winding you up, oh_

_Jack be nimble, Jack be quick_

_Please don't make too much of it_

_It ain't that serious_

_Baby, there's a shark in the water_

_There's something underneath my bed_

_Oh, please believe I said_

_Baby, there's a shark in the water_

_I caught them barking at the moon_

_You better get here soon_

_Baby, there's a shark in the water_

_Baby, there's a shark in the water_

_Baby, there's a shark in the water_

_I caught them barking at the moon_

_Better be soon_

**I do a double somersault to finish my routine and then take a bow.**

"**What did you think?" I ask.**

"**Wow, you can certainly sing, and that dance was incredible. It was very different to any of the other auditions we've seen" Aunt Rachel says.**

"**Good different or bad different?" I ask.**

"**Good different. You're in, we'll see you in the choir room on Friday at four, for the first glee club rehearsal" Aunt Rachel says. I run off the stage excitedly and Sydney gives me a big hug.**

"**Congratulations CeeCee" she says.**

"**Your turn, good luck" I say. **

"**Thanks" she says, giving me a smile and then walking out onto the stage. **

"**What will you be singing Sydney?" Aunt Quinn asks her. **

"**The Circle of Life from The Lion King" she says.**

"**Great choice, let's hear it" Aunt Quinn says to her. Sydney indicates to the pianist that she can leave and then takes a seat behind the piano and starts to sing and play.**

_Sydney:_

_Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba_

_Sithi uhm ingonyama_

_Ingonyama_

_Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba_

_Sithi uhhmm igonyama_

_Ingonyama_

_Siyo nqoba_

_Ingonyama_

_Ingonyama nengw' enamabala_

_From the day we arrive on the planet_

_And blinking, step into the sun_

_There is more to see than can ever be seen_

_More to do, than can ever be done_

_There's far too much to take in here_

_More to find than can ever be found_

_But the sun rolling high_

_Through the sapphire sky_

_Keeps the great and small on the endless round_

_It's the Circle of Life_

_And it moves us all_

_Through despair and hope_

_Through faith and love_

_Till we find our place_

_On the path unwinding_

_In the Circle_

_The Circle of Life_

_It's the Circle of Life_

_And it moves us all_

_Through despair and hope _

_Through faith and love_

_Till we find our place_

_On the path unwinding_

_In the Circle_

_The Circle of Life_

"**What did you think?" she asks.**

"**I think you'd be a great asset to Glee Club Sydney. Our first rehearsal is in the choir room at four on Friday, so don't be late" Aunt Rachel says. Sydney runs off stage happily and we both squeal and hug each other.**

"**So did you ask that hot friend of yours whether she'd come for coffee with us?" Sydney asks me.**

"**I did, she said she'd love to. So we'll all meet on the steps after school and you'll drive us right?" I say.**

"**Okay sounds great. I can't wait to meet her. What's her name?" she asks. **

"**Candice Hantz, but you can call her Candi, everyone does" I say.**

"**Sounds intriguing, I can't wait to meet her" she says.**

"**She said she can't wait to meet you too" I reply.**

"**Are you going to be okay? I could bring a guy for you too if you're going to feel like a third wheel?" she suggests.**

"**It's okay, I'm not really looking for a boyfriend right now" I say.**

"**Are you sure? There's a great guy in my Calculus class that I could set you up with, he's really sweet, his name's Drew McCarthy" she says.**

"**McCarthy as in Madison and Mason McCarthy? My dad took them for Glee Club their first year" I say.**

"**McCarthy as in Mason McCarthy. He married Jane Hayward. He's the older brother of Connor McCarthy, and he's so sweet, you'd really love him" she says.**

"**It's okay really, I'm looking for someone my age anyway, but thanks Syd" I say.**

"**Well if you change your mind then I can always give him your number" she says.**

"**I won't but thank you" I say.**

"**Okay, well I'll see you after school then?" she asks.**

"**Yeah, see you after school" I say. I'm heading to my locker when my phone buzzes, so I stop to check my messages. **

_Sierra, _

_I know it's been a long time, but Andre and I want the chance to correct the mistakes of the past. I'm truly sorry for what happened to you when you were staying with us, but we want a chance to correct our past mistakes. If you would like this too, then we will be at the Lima Bean at 5pm on Saturday. Meet us there._

_-Tasha_

**I almost drop my phone in shock. I haven't heard from them in eleven years, and suddenly, out of nowhere, they contact me. I'm not sure what to text back, on the one hand, if they really have changed, I'd like to see them, but on the other, I have real parents now. Still one meeting with them won't hurt will it?**

_Tasha,_

_Fine, I will meet with you, but don't expect anything. I have a good life now, and a great family, and nobody is going to screw that up for me!_

_-Sierra_

**I put my phone back in my pocket, and ignore it when it buzzes again. I just take my books from the locker and walk to my next class.**

**I just hope I haven't made a huge mistake by saying that I'll meet with Tasha and Andre.**

Freya's POV

_Flashback_

_I can hear them yelling outside my room, Mama left my door open. Daddy's screaming at Mama, but I can't tell why. I'm scared for Mama, when Daddy starts yelling at her, he usually hits her. _

"_You can get another job" she yells._

"_Where? Where can I get another job Alice? I'm an unqualified 22 year old, nowhere half decent will touch me" he says._

"_Then get another job at another garage. We can work this out" she says calmly. _

"_I won't get another job that pays half as well as that one did. This is all your fault" he yells._

"_How? How is it my fault?" she screams back._

"_Because if you had a better job then we wouldn't be in a mess right now" he says. _

"_If you hadn't got me pregnant when we were 15 then we wouldn't be in a mess right now!" she yells._

"_And now we get the real truth. You're completely ungrateful for everything I've done for you and our daughter the past six years" he screams. I cover my ears because I don't like the noise. _

"_I'm not, I was merely pointing out the truth" she says quietly. _

"_So this is all the brat's fault?" he asks._

"_No, it's no one's fault that you lost your job" she says._

"_Yes but if we didn't have the brat, then it wouldn't be such a big problem" he yells. _

"_That's our daughter you're talking about" she says._

"_I know, and I think she deserves to be punished for all the trouble she's caused" he says. I duck under my covers, scared of what Daddy is going to do. _

"_DON'T YOU DARE" Mama screams and I hear her move towards my door. _

"_Get out of my way bitch" my dad yells, and I hear the thud of my mama falling down. I start to tremble as I hear my daddy's footsteps coming towards me. He yanks me out of bed, and undoes his belt. He pulls up my shirt and hits my face with the belt, causing blood to run down my cheeks. I scream, and scream as he keeps hitting me, tears mingling with the blood on my cheek. _

"_STOP IT!" my mama yells, and I hear a loud thud. When I look up, Mama is holding a bedside lamp, and Daddy is lying face down on the floor._

"_Come with me sweetie, we're leaving" she says. She picks me up, grabs a few things from my drawers and shoves them into a suitcase, before taking me to her room and doing the same, also getting some money from her safe whilst she's there. As soon as she's done that, she puts me down, takes the two suitcases and I follow her out of the house._

"_Where are we going Mama?" I ask her._

"_Away from here" she replies. She takes me down the alley by the side of the house. _

"_We'll stay here until Mama works out what to do next okay sweetie?" she says._

_I nod gingerly, my cheeks stinging from the painful cuts Daddy gave me. _

"_Mama, it hurts" I say. _

"_I know honey, Mama will kiss it better okay" she says, kissing one of the still bleeding cuts. _

"_It still hurts" I say._

"_I know sweetie, but I will make it better I promise" she says._

"_Okay Mama" I reply. _

"_You're safe now sweetie" she says. She takes her coat out of her bag, and wraps me in it, and before long I have fallen asleep._

_1 year later_

_Mama had to work late, so I'm waiting for her friend Maria to pick me up from after school club. We've been living at Maria's house ever since the night that Daddy hit me. Mama tried to go back to Grammy and Gramps' house but they wouldn't take us, so we went to live with Maria instead. _

"_Is your Mama going to be here soon, Freya?" Anna asks me. Anna is one of the ladies who plays with me after school. _

"_Mama is working late, Mama's friend Maria is supposed to be coming to pick me up" I say. _

"_Okay sweetie. Do you want to play a game whilst we wait?" she asks._

"_Can I show you what I've been doing in dance class? I'm going to be a beautiful dancer, just like Mama" I say._

"_Let's see it sweetheart" she says, and I start to show her some of the movements we've been practicing in ballet. About halfway through, the door opens and I see my daddy walk through. I haven't seen him in a year, since we left that night that he hit me. _

"_Can I help you?" Anna asks, and I cower behind her._

"_I'm here to pick up my daughter Freya O'Hara?" he asks._

"_I was told that a family friend was picking her up and you are not on the list of people who are allowed to pick her up, we specifically go over with the parents who is allowed to pick their children up from here and we will not let them go with someone who is not on the list" Anna says. _

"_Look I'm her dad, okay, I can show you identification if that's what you need" he says, handing her a driver's license._

"_I'm not sure I feel comfortable with this" she says._

"_Look I cleared it with her mother, it's okay" he says. Anna still looks unsure but to my horror she hands me over to my daddy._

"_If you're sure" she says._

"_I am, thank you. Come on Freya, let's go" he says. He drags me out of the room, and into the parking lot._

"_GET AWAY FROM ME!" I yell, trying to pull my wrist away from him. _

"_No way, you and your slutty mother made a fool of me a year ago, and you can't get away with that" he says. He takes me to his car, and shoves me into his boot. _

"_Don't make a sound, otherwise when I get you out of there, I will kill you" he yells. His voice sounds kind of muffled through the boot of the car but the message still came through loud and clear. I don't make a sound the entire drive, too scared to even move. I just want my mama to come and save me, like she did last time. The car comes to a stop, and I hear my dad's footsteps coming around to the back of the car. _

"_Get out" he says, not really giving me much choice as he drags me out by my collar._

_I scream loudly to try and attract the attention of the neighbours, but my daddy clamps a hand over my mouth. He drags me into the house and up the stairs to my room. He tugs my shirt off, and then throws me onto the bed, tying my hands behind my back with my coat. He stuffs my t-shirt in my mouth and I almost choke on it. I kick my legs out in an effort to escape but it doesn't work. _

"_I have waited a whole year for this. Revenge will be so sweet" he whispers. My eyes widen in fear, but there's nothing I can do to stop him. I close my eyes expecting a blow that never comes. When I open my eyes, my daddy is naked in front of me. I try to scream, but I gag with the t-shirt in my mouth. He comes over to the bed, kneeling on top of me. He places a hand on one of the scars on my cheek, pressing into it. My eyes fill with pain, and I'm screaming in my head, even if I can't out loud. I kick at him, struggling as he pulls my jeans down. He rips my underwear away with his teeth, and I keep struggling but I can't push him off. I bite his shoulder, but my teeth are too small to make any real impact. _

_He almost crushes me with his body, as he jams himself inside me. I kick him repeatedly, trying to get him off but he just shoves himself in even deeper. I struggle against the bed frame, trying to loosen the coat that binds me to the bed frame, but he has tied me too tight. I'm not sure when I stop struggling, when I become resigned to the fact that this is happening to me. I don't actually know how long I lie there, with him hurting me, I'm vaguely aware of blood trickling down the inside of my leg, of him crushing my ribs, the feeling that I can't breathe. Eventually, I pass out, unaware of what he's doing to me, it's probably better that way. _

_Hours later I wake up, and he's still there, still shoving himself deeper and deeper into me. Everywhere hurts, my entire body feels like it's on fire. The t-shirt in my mouth is making it so that I can hardly breathe, and I try desperately to speak, so that he'll take the shirt out of my mouth and I can breathe properly again, but I can't. _

_I hear the door downstairs being unlocked; Daddy must have locked it when I wasn't looking. _

"_SHIT! You tell someone we were here?" he asks. I shake my head weakly. He slides out of me, and I fall back on the bed, completely drained. He grabs his clothes to the floor, and quickly starts dressing himself, pulling his t-shirt and jeans back on. I hear footsteps running up the stairs. Daddy tries to make it to the window but before he can, the door to my room is flung open and several cops and my Mama walk into the room. _

"_Baby! Are you okay?" she asks me. She pulls the t-shirt out of my mouth and unties my hands from behind my back._

"_It hurts Mama" I croak._

"_I know it does sweetie but you'll be fine, Mama's gonna make it better, I promise" she says, cuddling me close to her chest. I'm vaguely aware of the other men handcuffing my daddy. _

_I cry loudly into my Mama's shoulder, I don't know how long for. They call an ambulance, and carefully put me in the back of it, my Mama holding tightly onto my hand. I fall asleep but my nightmares are plagued by dreams of him and what he did._

_End of flashback_

I wake up, in a cold sweat, and shivering. I can never sleep fully through the night because I can't stop thinking about that night. I know that I'm not going to get back to sleep now, so I get up and creep silently down the stairs from my attic room, to the bathroom downstairs. I turn the light on, and look in the mirror. The scars on my face have faded a little, but they're still noticeable. I pick up a face cloth, and carefully damp my face to wipe the sweat away. I creep back upstairs to my room. I know that I'm not going to be coming back before school, so I open my wardrobe and quickly pick out an outfit, a long sleeved black and white shirt that says "Wake Me Up When It's Friday" on it, a black zipped hoodie, a pair of black skinny jeans with holes in the knees, and my favourite black combat boots. I dress, and then slip out the window and down the trellis. It's a little cold, I probably should have picked a thicker hoodie but I don't care.

I walk all the way to the cemetery, which is about half an hour walk from my house, but I don't mind, I enjoy the solitude. I check the pockets of my jeans to see if I have any loose change so I can buy some flowers. Luckily I do have a little, so I stop in a corner shop and buy a bouquet of pink roses, my mother's favourite flower.

When I arrive at the cemetery, it's pretty easy for me to find my mother's grave, since I've been coming here every day since I was eight. Her grave is at the far back of the cemetery, underneath a cherry blossom tree. I place the flowers up next to her headstone and then kneel by her graveside.

"Hi Mama, I miss you so much. I don't know why you had to leave me. You saved me from Daddy so many times, but then you just gave up and I don't know why. Was I not good enough? Did I not love you enough? It was supposed to be you and me against the world, or did you forget that? You left me with people who aren't my parents. Sure they're fine, but I've needed my mom these past six years and you haven't been here! You're my idol, I always admired how strong you were for me, taking all of Daddy's beatings so he wouldn't hurt me, working so hard so that I could have a life, how amazingly kind you were to everyone even the people who didn't deserve it, what a beautiful singer you were, and how amazingly you danced. I wish you could be here with me, so that we could dance together, so that you could still be my mom. Why could you not have stayed strong for me when I needed you? Why could you not have been here when I needed you? I NEEDED YOU AND YOU LEFT ME!" I say, screaming the last part, tears running down my cheeks. I still remember the day I found my mom dead with perfect clarity.

_Flashback_

"_Mama?" I ask as I walk through the door to Maria's house. I haven't been back to after school club since the day it happened, over a week ago. I hate the stares of the other kids from school, most of whom know what happened having heard it on the news, so I snuck out of school and came home after lunch. The door was locked, but I found the spare key under the mat where it always is. _

"_Mama?" I call but there is still no answer. I walk up the stairs and the door to Mama's room is closed. I open the door, and carefully creep into the room, not making much noise in case Mama is asleep. _

_I scream when I see Mama. She's lying face down on the floor, her blonde hair fanning out behind her, in a pool of blood.  
"WAKE UP MAMA!" I shout, shaking her shoulder. But she doesn't move. I want more than anything for her to sit up and talk, and tell me that this was all just some sick joke. _

"_NOOOOOO!" I scream, when she doesn't respond, even when I poke her and prod her, even punch her in the arm. Part of me knew she was dead as soon as I saw all the blood, but I didn't want to accept it. Now I have to._

"_Why did you leave me Mama?" I ask through sobs._

_End of flashback_

I remember when Maria found me that evening, lying next to Mama, her blood soaking my hair. She screamed about as loudly as I did when I first walked in there. I wouldn't leave her for hours; the social workers had to drag me off of her body. I didn't speak for months afterwards, not until they said that there was a family willing to adopt me, and then I figured I'd better act nice otherwise I'd be stuck in that stupid care home until I was 18 and could look after myself. Kurt and Blaine (yes, I call them by their first names, they're not my parents, just my legal guardians), didn't even mean to adopt me. They wanted an eight month old baby, but due to a mix up, they ended up with me, a sullen, damaged eight year old girl. They probably still wish that they'd ended up with the eight month old baby; at least they don't come with huge amounts of emotional baggage.

I keep talking to my mom for hours, telling her all sorts of useless stuff, as I always do. I probably spend longer talking to my mom than I do anyone who's actually living, but it's easier to talk to someone who can't answer back, you can never disappoint them.

"Hey" someone says from behind me, putting a hand on my shoulder. I jump, flinching at the touch.

"What the hell? Do you always just come up to random girls at gravesides?" I yell.

"No I was cycling to school and noticed you, you looked cold" he says handing me his jacket.

"Who the hell are you?" I ask.

"Connor McCarthy, I'm in your 5th period Math class on Mondays" he says.

"And what are you really doing here?" I ask.

"I told you, I spotted you and I thought you looked cold, there was no ulterior motive" he says.

"Right well it was nice to see you, but I really should be going. Like you said we have school" I say, brushing him off.

"Well let me go with you" he says.

"I'm walking, you're cycling, I'll be far too slow for you" she says.

"And if I said I had sour patch kids? What would you say then?" he asks, dangling a bag of sour patch kids in front of me.

"Damn you! How did you know?" I ask.

"I sit behind you in Math, I've seen you eating them under the table a million times" he says.

"Fine" I sigh, grabbing the bag of sour patch kids from him. We walk together in silence until we reach his bike outside the cemetery gates.

"So whose grave was that anyway? Someone you know?" he asks.

"My mother" I say, shortly.

"What happened to her?" he asks.

"With all due respect I don't think I know you well enough to talk about that" I say. I don't talk about my mother with people I do know, let alone some strange boy that I've only just met.

"What about your dad?" he asks.

"In jail, and no, I don't want to talk about it" I say.

"Is there anything you will talk about?" he asks.

"As long as it doesn't involve my family, then you can know whatever the hell you want" I say.

"Fine, what do you like to do outside of school?" he asks.

"I'm a dancer" I reply.

"What kind?" he asks.

"All different kinds, ballet, hip hop, musical theatre, jazz, tap, you know a little bit of everything. You can't be a good dancer if you're not well rounded" I say.

"Are you good?" he asks.

"I'm good, probably not good enough, but I'm good" I say.

"Could I come watch you dance?" he asks.

"You just met me and suddenly you want to see me dance?" I ask sceptically.

"Okay, so I may have had a little crush on you" he admits.

"Ha! I knew you had an ulterior motive" I say, punching him gently.

"So go on, what type of dancer would you like to be? When you're older?" he asks.

"I love ballet, it makes me feel closer to my mom, but I like hip-hop too so maybe I'll choreograph for that. Or I might go into musical theatre, I haven't decided yet" I say.

"So your mom was a ballerina?" he asks.

"She would have been, if she hadn't had me at 16. But that's all you get" I say.

"Okay, I won't pry about your life I promise, you don't have to tell me anything that you don't want to" he says.

"Of course I don't, I never tell anyone anything I don't want to tell them" I say. "So what about you? You've been digging into my personal life; I think it's only fair I get to ask you about yours"

"Well my parents were music superstars, they toured all over the world with us, right up until my brother was 14 and they decided they should settle down, and stop touring for a while so that we'd both be able to go to high school in one place. They still release albums every couple of years though, and they own the music store in town, McCarthy's?" he says.

"I love that place! It's like my favourite place to study. Your parents own it?" she asks.

"Yeah they do, but I think you're the first person I've met who goes there to study" he says, laughing teasingly.

"What can I say? Your parents have great taste in music and the beanbag chairs are really comfy. You haven't ever studied there?" I ask.

"Yeah but my parents own the place so I work there for some extra cash, if I'm there late I study in my breaks. What I meant was I haven't heard of anyone who goes there specifically to study" he says.

"I guess I'm just unique" I say, smiling.

"Yes you are" he says, stroking my hair. I slap his hand away.

"Ground rule number two, no touching" I say. After what happened with my dad, I'm kind of insecure about guys touching me, so unless I decide that I can completely trust them, then I won't let them touch me.

"Fair enough" he says, moving his hand away from my hair.

"You're not going to ask why?" I ask surprised.

"I'm sure you have a good reason, and I promised I wouldn't pry, so no I'm not" he says. He's the first guy who hasn't asked "What the hell is your problem?" when I tell them not to touch me and that makes me inwardly smile.

"So you said you lived all over the world when your parents were touring? Where was your favourite place?" I ask.

"That's hard; we went to so many amazing places. I have to say, probably Canada, the people there were so friendly" he says.

"Ah I'd love to go there, I'm kind of jealous, you must have lived in so many different places whilst your parents were touring" I say.

"Well more like stayed in a lot of different places, we didn't exactly live anywhere for very long" he says.

"Still it must have been really cool" I say.

"It was, but it's nice just being in one place for a while. Have you done much travelling?" he asks.

"Kurt works for Vogue, so he gets us backstage passes to fashion weeks in New York, Paris, London and Milan, and we usually come back with a ton of free clothes, in fact we get a ton of free clothes from the Vogue Vault anyway, but we get even more on fashion week" I say.

"You call your Dad Kurt, not Dad?" he asks.

"This comes under the don't talk about my family category" I say.

"You brought it up not me" he points out.

"Well I don't want to talk about that. Look I'm sorry, but I just don't like talking about my family, at least not the really personal stuff" I say.

"Fine, what does your other dad do? I assume that's not too personal for you" he says.

"Blaine's in a band, they're called the Fettucine Alfredos" I say, and as expected he bursts out laughing.

"Where did he come up with that?" he asks.

"Kurt and Blaine always said that if they had a celebrity baby they'd name it Fettucine, but since they never had a celebrity baby, Blaine decided to name the band that. His friends thought it would be a memorable band name because everyone would think it was funny and wonder why they named it that" I say.

"When you put it that way it's actually kind of genius" he says.

"Yeah, they're quite good, I've seen them play a couple of times" I say.

"So what sort of music are you into?" he asks.

"A lot of different stuff actually, I like musical theatre obviously, some classical stuff too since I use it for ballet, some folk/indie stuff, pop, country, even a little alternative music, I think you should try a little bit of everything" I say.

"Nice approach, that's what I do too, try a little of everything, although I have to say my favourites are folk/indie type music and country, since I play guitar so those are easiest to play" he says.

"Could you teach me? I'd like to learn how to play an instrument, but the only one Blaine and Kurt know is piano, and it's not really my thing. I'd like to try guitar though" I say.

"Sure, I'd love to" he says smiling.

"Wait a second are your parents Jane Hayward and Mason McCarthy?" I ask.

"Well she's Jane McCarthy now but yes that's them? Why?" he asks.

"A friend of my parents, Kitty Lynn was friends with them in high school, she talks about them a lot" I say.

"Small world huh?" he says.

"Well we do live in Lima" I say, making him laugh. "So you said you had a brother?" she asks.

"Drew, yeah, he's 17" he says.

"What's he like?" I ask.

"Drew? Oh he's just the family star, everyone loves him. He's nice, funny, gets good enough grades that he could get into Harvard, is musical, sporty, he's basically good at everything" he says.

"Do a sense a little resentment?" I ask teasingly.

"Maybe just a little. It's hard to live up to the successful older brother. Do you have siblings? Wait am I allowed to ask that or does that break one of the 'ground rules'?" he asks teasingly.

"I have two sisters, Abby and Sierra, we're not that close. In fact I don't really talk to them. It's difficult to be close when you all come from different families and I only met them when I was 8" I say.

"What are they like?" he asks.

"Nice enough, I guess. Like I said, we don't spend that much time together. The only thing we really have in common is dance and singing" I say.

"Maybe you should spend more time together?" he suggests.

"Now that breaks the ground rules" I say.

"Which one?" he asks.

"Ground rule number three, don't interfere in the way I handle my family" I say.

"Noted" he replies. "So how did your sisters come to be adopted? Or are you not allowed to tell me that?" he asks.

"Sierra's parents died in a fire, and then after an incident with her foster parents she was adopted by Kurt and Blaine, and Abby was sent to America by her mom due to an incident with her dad and was then adopted by Kurt and Blaine" I say.

"You said you liked musical theatre, what's your favourite show?" he asks.

"Bonnie And Clyde" I admit shyly.

"The one about the two robbers? I don't know whether I should be impressed or scared" he says.

"It's a good musical, the music's great and the story's pretty good. What's your favourite musical?" I ask.

"Hairspray, it's my go to musical when I'm sick, it always makes me feel better" he says.

"Yeah that one's pretty good too" I say.

"So you said you like ballet, what's your favourite one?" he asks.

"Ballet? Swan Lake probably, there's nothing more beautiful than that ballet done well" I say.

"So that's what you want to do? Dance in something like that?" he asks.

"Maybe, although I'm not sure I'll ever be good enough" I say.

"I'm sure you're great" he says.

"It's not enough to be great, you have to be the best of the best" I say. "So what is it that you want to do?" I ask.

"I honestly don't know yet. Definitely something to do with music though, it's in my blood. You must understand that" he says.

"Yeah I do, I feel the same way about dance" I say. "Would you be interested in joining Glee Club?" I ask.

"Glee Club? We don't have one of those at school do we?" he asks.

"We do now; Rachel and Quinn are setting one up at school. I'm not going to join but I thought it might be something you'd be interested in" I say.

"Why aren't you going to join?" he asks.

"I don't want to talk about it, now do you want to, or not?" I ask.

"Sure I'd love to. Connor probably would too. When are auditions?" he asks.

"The last day is today, you can go whenever" I say.

"I still don't see why you don't want to join, you seem like you love music" he says.

"Yeah, but I don't want to and that's that" I snap. We continue to talk about music mostly, and he talks a little more about his family before we get to school. He manages not to piss me off anymore, respecting my ground rules and to my surprise we actually have a lot of fun. He's a funny guy, sweet and sensitive, but not afraid to tease me and he doesn't push me to tell him anything that I don't want to. I'm actually a little disappointed when we arrive at school.

"I've enjoyed hanging out with you, mysterious girl" he says. It makes me feel a little uncomfortable that he's flirting with me.

"Don't do that" I say.

"Do what?" he asks.

"The flirting thing, I'm not comfortable with it" I say.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know" he says. "I'd like to be friends though. I mean if you'd like that"

"I would. How would you like to go for milkshakes later?" I ask.

"The Shake Shack?" he asks.

"Only the best shakes in town" I say smiling.

"I'd love to. So friends?" he asks holding out his hand. I gingerly accept it, and feel this warmth flooding through my fingertips.

"Friends" I say smiling.

"I'll see you in Math fifth period? I have more packets of Sour Patch Kids" he says.

"You sure know the way to a girls heart" I say, winking.

"Now who's flirting?" he says.

"Goodbye Connor McCarthy" I say as we reach the top of the stairs.

"Goodbye Freya Hummel-Anderson" he says. We split off, I go to my locker and he goes to his, and then I walk to my English class.

The day goes pretty much as usual, I fall asleep in near enough all of my classes, because I didn't sleep thanks to my nightmares and my teachers get pissed off at me. This is a regular occurrence, if I'm not kept up because of my nightmare, I'm kept up because I procrastinate and leave all my work to the last minute which means I do it in the middle of the night, which on the upside means that I stave off my nightmares.

Finally, the buzzer goes for lunch, and I head out of my fourth period class. I'm actually really looking forward to Math today, thanks to Connor McCarthy. I eat alone today, since Ginny has her Glee audition, and I would normally eat with her.

"Look who it is, it's the Freak all on her lonesome" a voice says from behind me. I turn around to see Viola Barnes, McKinley's biggest bitch and her cronies.

"Can I help you?" I ask in my most sarcastic voice.

"Well that's not exactly very nice is it?" she asks in her faux sweet voice.

"What do you want Viola? Because if you're just here to irritate me, then I suggest that you go, before I do something that I might regret" I say, lowering my voice.

"Relax I thought you looked lonely and I thought I'd come and talk to you, you know, make friends" she says.

"I don't believe you" I say.

"You're right of course; I'd never want to be friends with a freak like you. As usual I just come over to make sure the little people know who's in charge. Making people's lives a misery is the highlight of my day" she says.

"Have at it Viola, I really couldn't care less" I say.

"I'm surprised you don't have a boyfriend yet Freya, really I am. I mean given your mother's history you should have a boyfriend by now, and be getting pregnant in the next few years like your slut of a mom did. No wonder she killed herself, having you probably ruined her life" she says.

I turn around and chuck my lunch tray right into her face. Then I punch her, hard in the nose. "YOU BITCH! YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT MY MOM LIKE THAT!" I say, raking my nails down her cheeks. She slaps me back, I kick her. I pull at her hair. We roll around on the floor, kicking each other, scratching each other, punching each other, even biting each other until eventually Quinn and Kitty pull us apart.

"Both of you to the Principal's office now!" Quinn yells, and both she and Kitty frogmarch us to Finn's office. They leave us both there, facing away from each other in the chairs outside the office.

"You started it, you shouldn't have said that about my mom" I say.

"Yeah well that doesn't give you permission to hurt me" she says.

"You knew that was going to happen" I say.

"I didn't say anything that wasn't true" she says. I grab her by the collar and force her to stare directly into my face.

"Do you want me to hit you again?" I ask threateningly. She turns away and we sit in silence until Finn comes out to get us.

"Come in both of you" he says. He waits for us to sit down before he speaks again. "I hear you were fighting in the cafeteria" he says, using the "I'm very disappointed in you adult voice".

"She started it" I say.

"Is that true Viola?" he asks.

"I said something that may have upset her, and then she went completely mental" Viola says.

"You said that my mom was a slut and that it was my fault that she killed herself!" I yell.

"Now Viola, I think you should apologise to Freya for saying that. It's extremely rude and heartless considering the situation" Finn says.

"I'm sorry" she says although it doesn't sound particularly heartfelt, but Finn doesn't push it, both he and I can see that's the best I'm going to get.

"Having said that, Freya you can't deal with every situation using your fists. You've only been here just over a week, and you've seen me more than most people do all year for getting into fights. If you're going to stay in this school then things have to change" he says.

"I'm sorry that I hit you, even though you totally deserved it" I say to Viola.

"So we need to talk about punishment for both of you. Viola, I think a week's worth of after school detentions will do, and I don't want to hear you complain, because I can dole out much worse punishments" he says.

"Okay" she says. He indicates that she can leave, and she walks out of the office toward her next class.

"What's my punishment? Because I don't think you want us in the same detention room" I say.

"You're probably right about that. Which is why I've decided that I'm going to require that you join Glee for this year" he says.

"What? Are you sure we can't go back to the detention thing?" I ask.

"No, my decision is final. I think a year in Glee will do you good. Might help you make some new friends, and learn to cooperate more with people. If you don't want to stay on after this year, then that's fine, but this year will be mandatory" he says.

"Or what?" I ask.

"Or I will suspend you, and that will go on your permanent record" he says. ish

"Are you sure there aren't any other options? Community service? Before school dentention? Extra credit essays?" I ask.

"Nope, it's glee club or suspension. Take your pick" he says.

"Fine I will join your stupid Glee Club, but I'm not happy about it" I say.

"That's kind of the point of a punishment Freya. You're not supposed to enjoy it" he says. "I will be checking with Rachel and Quinn that you went to the auditions and if I hear that you didn't then you will be immediately suspended, understand?" he says.

"I understand" I say sulkily.

"I really think this will be good for you Freya" he says. I don't answer, figuring that whatever smart retort I could say, would not make this situation any better. So I say goodbye to Finn, and then walk out of his office. I didn't get to finish my lunch since I threw it in Viola's face, so I head out and grab a burger from the Shake Shack, before coming back and grabbing my Math stuff from my locker.

I've never enjoyed Math so much, Connor sits behind me, and we pass notes between each other, and he smuggles Sour Patch kids under the desk to me. I kind of like him I guess, but it's probably never going to go anywhere. I don't trust guys, after all my dad was supposedly a nice guy and then he turned into a monster and my mom never even realized. I'm not going to let the same thing happen to me, just because Connor seems like a nice guy, that doesn't mean that he is.

When the final buzzer goes to signal the end of the day, I head over to the auditorium for my glee audition. Connor and Drew are on stage, sitting on stools with their guitars. I take a seat behind Quinn and Rachel, and listen to them sing. They both have really nice voices, although it's not a song I've heard before.

_Connor:_

_If I drink this beer_

_I'll probably have two or three if I know me_

_I'll be digging up the past like it's money in the backyard_

_Drew:_

_If I drink this beer_

_I know it's gonna seem like a good idea_

_To call you up in the middle of the night _

_And tell you how I feel_

_Both:_

_So I should just put it down_

_The last thing I need to do tonight is push my luck_

_Drunk, get all messed up_

_And tell you how bad you need my love_

_And how you'll never find a guy like me again_

_Connor:_

_If I drink this beer_

_I know it's gonna lead to more_

_And I ain't sure what I'd do if I knocked on your door_

_And your boyfriend answered_

_Drew:_

_If I take just one sip_

_It's gonna get ugly quick_

_And, man, it's tough, cause I'm in love_

_And I need to ease the pain_

_So I just put it down_

_Both:_

_The last thing I need to do tonight is push my luck_

_Drunk, get all messed up_

_And tell you how bad you need my love_

_And how you'll never find a guy like me again_

_Connor:_

_I still won't get you back_

_And that beer is all I have to hold_

_And it's cold as you at the end of the telephone line_

_In the middle of the night_

_Both:_

_So I just put it down_

_The last thing I need to do tonight is push my luck_

_Drunk, get all messed up_

_Yeah I should just put it down_

_The last thing I need to do tonight is push my luck_

_Drunk, get all messed up_

_And tell you how bad you need my love_

_And how you'll never find a guy like me again_

_Drew:_

_If I drink this beer_

_I'll probably have two or three if I know me_

_I'll be digging up the past like it's money in the backyard_

"Wow guys, that was great, you definitely make a great duo" Quinn says.

"Well we've had years of practice" Drew says, putting his arm around Connor. He looks a little uncomfortable; I'm guessing he doesn't enjoy always being part of a duo.

"You guys are in; we'll see you on Friday. First rehearsal is in the choir room at four" Rachel says. Drew and Connor have a short discussion between themselves, and then Drew walks off stage and Connor walks to the seats behind Rachel and Quinn and takes a seat next to me.

"I thought you weren't going to join Glee" he says.

"Freya you're up" Quinn calls.

"I'll tell you after" I whisper to him, and then walk up onto the auditorium stage.

"I'll be singing Not About Angels by Birdy, this is for my mom" I say. I take a seat on one of the stools and then start to sing.

_Freya:_

_We know full well there's just time_

_So is it wrong to dance this line?_

_If your heart was full of love_

_Could you give it up?_

_Cause what about, what about angels?_

_They will come; they will go, make us special_

_Don't give me up_

_Don't give…me up_

_How unfair, it's just our luck_

_Found something real that's out of touch_

_But if you searched the whole wide world_

_Would you dare to let it go?_

_Cause what about, what about angels?_

_They will come; they will go, make us special_

_Don't give me up_

_Don't give….me up_

_Cause what about, what about angels?_

_They will come; they will go, make us special_

_It's not about, not about angels, angels_

I don't look at Quinn and Rachel as I finish my song, because I can feel tears trickling down my face, and I hate it when people see me cry, it makes me feel vulnerable and I don't like that. After what my dad did to me, I promised myself that I would never be in a position where I could be that vulnerable again, and closing off my feelings to other people helps me do that.

"That song must mean a lot to you, you could definitely feel the emotion through the lyrics" Rachel says.

"Well my mom meant a lot to me" I say shortly.

"You're obviously in Freya, rehearsals are on Friday at four in the choir room and if you don't show up, we will be telling Finn" Quinn says.

"Fine" I say sulkily. I walk off the stage, and wait for a few minutes until Connor turns up.

"You have a lovely voice" he says.

"Thank you" I reply, wiping my wet cheeks.

"Were you crying?" he asks.

"No!" I respond defensively.

"Your mom must have meant a lot to you" he says.

"Of course she did, she was my mom. She sacrificed everything for me" I say.

"Sounds like a pretty great mom" he says.

"Yeah she really was" I say smiling. "Your audition was great too, although I couldn't help but notice you didn't look all that happy with your brother" I say.

"Sometimes I'd like to be just Connor McCarthy rather than part of the McCarthy brothers, I mean I love my brother and we sound great together but….." he says.

"But sometimes you want to be recognised for your own accomplishments" I finish.

"Yeah, that's right. So would you like to go to the Shake Shack? Like we said this morning?" he asks.

"I'd love to" I say and we head out of school together, chatting as we walk (well I walk, he cycles) to the Shake Shack.

Morgan's POV

"Morgan! Breakfast" Mami calls. I groan, not wanting to get up because I didn't go to sleep until 2 am, I was having an amazing Street Fighter run and I didn't realise how late it was until I was about halfway through my last run.

"Coming Mami!" I call. I quickly shower, and then go to my wardrobe to pick out an outfit to wear. My clothing style is preppy, so quite expensive, but I like to have clothes that no one else will have. I pick out a striped rugby shirt, a pair of white Bermuda shorts (with black tights underneath as its fall and so still cold), my purple flats and pearl earrings. I quickly dress and then walk downstairs, where to my surprise; just my moms are sitting around the kitchen table.

"Where's Lexi? And Brant?" I ask.

"Lexi left very early this morning, something about having breakfast with some cute guy named Kyle, who I know absolutely nothing about…." Mami says.

"Kyle's a guy from Dalton who she's crushing on" I say.

"How do you know this?" she says.

"She's my sister, sisters talk" I say shrugging.

"So what else did she tell you about this mysterious boy?" she asks.

"Nothing much, that he was really cute, that he goes to Dalton, that his mom was a Broadway actress, and that he has two younger sisters, one of whom is in one of your ballet classes" I say.

"What's his last name?" she asks.

"Walker" I say.

"Oh yes, Kyle Walker, his sister Callie is my class. He's come to pick her up a few times. He seems like a nice enough kid" she says.

"Well let's hope this one is better than Lexi's other boyfriends" I say.

"She does attract some stinkers" Mom says and we all laugh.

"So where's Brant?" I ask.

"Still asleep most likely, he's never one to wake up early" Mami says.

"He was up pretty late last night, he woke up in the middle of the night screaming and then he was talking to Lexi. I guess he must have had the nightmare again, and Lexi went in there to comfort him. She sounded upset herself, maybe you should talk to her" I say.

"What was she upset about?" Mom asks.

"I don't know, I wasn't listening that closely, I could just tell that she was upset" I say.

"Okay well we'll definitely have to talk to her" Mami says, sharing a worried look with Mom. I have a feeling that they know more about this than they're letting on, but I don't push it, I can just ask Lexi what she was upset about later. We're really close, as close as or even closer than siblings who are related by blood. I'm the odd one out of our siblings, Lexi is Mom's daughter, and Brant is Mami's son, whereas I'm adopted. It doesn't feel like that though, with my hair and colouring, I could be Mom's biological daughter, plus I've grown up in this family, I was put up for adoption basically as soon as I was born so this is the only family I've ever known, and I know I'm as much a Lopez-Pierce as Brant and Lexi.

"You alright Mo? You kind of drifted off a little there" Mom says.

"Yeah I was just thinking" I say smiling.

"So what's new with you Mo?" Mom asks.

"Not much really. Marcus and Kate refuse to leave me alone, they keep texting me to ask if I'll meet up with them, but I still don't want to" I say.

"Maybe they'll finally leave you alone if you just go to meet with them once. They are your family after all" Mom says.

"No they're not. My family are you guys and Lexi and Brant, the people who I grew up with and who cared about me my whole life. The only thing I have in common with them is blood, and really what does blood matter? Our family is living proof of that" I say.

"I know, but it can't hurt to know where you come from" Mami says.

"I don't need to know about my biological parents, they wanted to give me up, so I shouldn't have to feel like I should want to know them because if they wanted to know me then they would have kept me wouldn't they?" I say.

"Honey, I don't know why they gave you up, but you should never feel like you have to know them. No matter how much they bug you about it, it's your choice. I think you would both get some closure if you did but you're not obliged in any way to see them" Mami says.

"Good because I don't want to" I say.

"Do you not at least want to meet your sister?" Mom says.

"BRITTANY!" Mami exclaims.

"What?" I ask. "What the hell is she talking about?"

"I wasn't supposed to say anything was I?" Mom says.

"No" Mami says.

"Will someone please fill me in here? What sister are you talking about?" I ask.

"Your birth mom and dad asked us not to tell you this, but you have a twin sister" Mami says.

"What? And you just thought you wouldn't tell me this?" I ask.

"You said you didn't want anything to do with your biological family, we figured that included your sister. Plus your birth mom and dad asked us not to tell you and we wanted to respect their wishes" she says.

"So you just thought you'd lie to me?" I ask incredulously.

"Honey you never seemed interested in knowing about your biological family. If you'd really wanted us to, then of course your needs as our daughter would come first, and we would have told you" she says.

"Did you not think that the fact that I have a biological sibling is something that I'd like to know?" I ask.

"You were the one that said that family isn't all about blood" she says.

"But that was about my parents, not about my sister, she hasn't done anything wrong" I say.

"We were nervous about telling you, because we thought you might resent the fact that they kept her and not you" Mom says.

"Well it doesn't make me resent her, it makes me resent them even more" I say. "What do you know about her?" I ask.

"Not much to be honest honey, we haven't kept in touch with your birth family. We know that she's your identical twin, that her last name is Hantz, and that she goes to McKinley and that's honestly about it. I'm sure you could find out who she is, Hantz is not a very common last name and there's only going to be one girl who looks exactly the same as you" Mom says.

"But there are a million girls at school, so who knows if I'll ever even meet her?" I ask.

"I honestly don't know, but if you want more information about her, your best bet would be to ask Martha and Marcus" Mami says.

"Well I'm obviously not going to do that. I'll just ask in the office at school and see if they can tell me if there's anyone under the name Hantz" I say.

"Are you mad at us?" Mom asks.

"For not telling me? Yes!" I say indignantly.

"We are sorry, sweetie, really" Mami says.

"I know but it's going to take me a while to forgive you" I say. We hear footsteps coming downstairs.

"I know you're not happy with us right now, but can you at least be civil for Brant?" Mami says.

"Fine" I say. Brant walks into the kitchen, and we act like our previous conversation never happened, than mom never dropped the bomb that I have an identical twin sister. We talk about Lexi's new crush, and Brant and I's lack of dating life, and then about school, and glee club. Brant then goes to get changed, and my moms and I sit in silence, I'm not willing to keep up the act of not being upset with my moms for longer than I have to. Brant them comes back and we leave, with Mami. We talk about classes and our auditions for glee club mostly, and I talk a little about cinema club, not bringing up the conversation about my twin sister. Brant drops Mami off at the studio and then he drives me to school. We talk about jobs that he could possibly get to save up for his own car until he pulls up in the school parking lot. Brant and I say goodbye and I head off to find my friend Clara.

"Hello Freak" Viola Barnes says, stopping me in the hallway with a cherry slushie in her hands.

"Can we make this quick? I'm meant to be meeting my friend Clara" I say.

"I realised that you were the only geek in Cinema Club that I hadn't slushied yet this year" she says.

"Only me? There's thirteen of us and it's only the second week of term. You act fast" I say.

"You know it happens a lot quicker if you don't talk" she says. She raises her arm and is about to throw the slushie at me, when a cute guy in a letterman jacket jumps in front of me.

"Leave her alone Vi, she's not doing anything to you" the guy says.

"You know the social order in this school Jackson, we have to show the little people where they stand" she says.

"No we don't. Morgan doesn't deserve to be slushied just because she's in a club that you deem to be unpopular" he says. I'm surprised that he knows my name, he's an attractive jock and I'm…..well I'm nothing.

"Fine, but I don't want to waste this slushie" she says.

"Then why don't you drink it?" he asks.

"I can think of a more fun way to use it" she says, throwing the slushie in his face.

"See you later losers" she says, throwing her hair over her shoulder and flouncing away.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Wow I never realised how much slushies burned" he says.

"I can help you clean off, it's the least I can do after you taking a slushie for me" I say. We go to the boy's locker room, and I help him clean the slushie off.

"I'm sorry I can't do anything about your clothes" I say.

"It's okay, I guess I'll just have to wear my sports kit for the rest of the day" he says.

"Thank you for doing that, you didn't have to" I say.

"Yes I did, Viola Barnes is a bitch, and people don't deserve to be slushied just because they're less popular than she is" he says.

"You're not at all how I imagined" I say.

"How so?" he asks.

"Well you're sweet, from the way people talk about Jackson Avery, I expected you to be a leather jacket wearing, cigarette smoking, motorcycle riding, bad attitude kind of guy with several girls hanging off each arm" I say.

"Well I can't deny the motorcycle, or the girls, or the leather jacket, but the smoking thing is absolutely not true and the bad attitude is a myth" he says.

"I'm sure everything you've heard about me is probably true" I say.

"Well no, one thing was wrong" he says.

"What's that?" I ask moving a little closer into him.

"People underestimated how cute you are" he whispers in my ear. I think he's about to kiss me when the buzzer interrupts us, indicating that we have to head to class.

"I'll see you around" I say, nervously twirling a strand of hair around my finger.

"Yeah, see you around, Blondie" he says.

"Blondie?" I ask.

"It's kind of my thing, I have a nickname for everybody" he says.

"I prefer Mo" I say.

"What your last name again?" he asks.

"Lopez-Pierce" I say.

"What about Molo then?" he asks.

"You know what I don't hate it. Can I pick a nickname for you?" I ask.

"Sure why not?" he says.

"Jackie" I say.

"Really?" he asks.

"I think it's cute" I say.

"It makes me sound like a five year old girl" he says.

"What about Javie then?" I suggest.

"Fine, see you later Molo" he says.

"See you later Javie. I'll try not to blame you too much for making me late for class" I say.

"Was it worth it?" he asks.

"Completely" I say, winking before I turn to walk away. I head to my locker, grab my Math books and run all the way to class, even though I'm already late. I arrive at my math classroom, sweaty and panting and take my seat next to Clara.

"He's not even here yet?" I ask.

"No, he's not, he's probably stuck in traffic or something, but if it gets us out of doing Algebra, I wouldn't complain. Hey where were you this morning? I waited forever for you and you never showed?" Clara says.

"Oh, I had a run in with Viola Barnes. She was going to slushie me, but then this cute guy took the slushie for me, and I went to help him clean it off" I say.

"Sounds like somebody has a crush. What's his name?" she asks.

"Jackson Avery" I say.

"No, No, No!" she says.

"What? What's wrong with him? He seemed sweet enough, and I think he liked me, he gave me a cute nickname" I say.

"And that's how it starts. This is all a play Mo, he does this to almost every single girl he goes out with. It starts with the slushie save, then he gives you the cute nickname. Then you ask him out and he agrees. You date for a while, and then you have sex, and trust me, you will have sex because he's charming, and cute and it just feels oh so right. As soon as he gets what he wants from you, he will move onto someone else, but he hates confrontation, so he won't actually dump you, he'll just cheat on you. You discover him cheating, and break up with him, leaving him free to do this on another innocent girl and you're left broken hearted" she says.

"That seems a little judgemental; maybe he's not like that anymore. And how do you know anyway?" I say.

"It's not judgemental, ask anyone of the girls he's been out with and they won't be too hard to find because he's been out with half the school, including me" she says.

"He went out with you?" I ask.

"No need to sound so surprised, some people do consider me a catch. Anyway, we dated for about three months, started the exact same way; he saved me from being slushied, called me Clary. After about three months, we had sex; I really thought he was in love with me. A few days later I found him in a motel room on top of Hannah Jakes, and I spent the next two weeks crying in my bedroom singing along to country heartbreak songs" she says.

"Well maybe you just weren't the right girl for him" I say.

"Don't you get it Mo? No one's the right girl for him. He just goes from girl to girl and doesn't care who he hurts in the process. I don't want you to be hurt by him too, you're my best friend" she says.

"He really doesn't seem like he wants to hurt me" I say.

"The ones who seem nice are always the most dangerous, Mo. Just be careful, okay?" she says.

"Fine but I really don't think I have anything to worry about" I say. Our conversation is interrupted by Mr Sykes, our math teacher walking in, so we stop talking, and get to work, although there is still a palpable tension between the two of us. I get that Jackson hurt her, and that she wants to protect me, but I don't think I need protecting.

The rest of the morning passes quite slowly, and Clara doesn't talk to me, in any of the other classes that we share together. I don't know why she's so mad at me; I mean I can't help the fact that I find Javie cute. Besides it's not as if I want to marry the guy, I just want to date him. Whatever happens will happen, and it's not as if I don't know anything about his history, I've seen him with more than one girl on his arm, more than once. I'm perfectly prepared for the chance that he's going to break my heart, but I'm willing to take the risk that he's not.

I have a free period after lunch, so I decide to go over to the auditorium and do my audition for Glee Club. Before I go, I change clothes, as I'm doing a Hannah Montana song, so I wanted to really get into character, I decide to go all country and western with a checked shirt, and jeans, fringed jacket and rhinestone covered cowboy boots. After I've changed I walk over to the auditorium. There's no one else there, just Aunt Quinn and Aunt Rachel waiting for more people.

"Hi Aunt Quinn, Aunt Rachel" I say.

"Wow, you look a lot different than normal Mo" Aunt Quinn says.

"It's part of my audition, I wanted to get fully into character" I say.

"And what will you be singing Mo?" Aunt Rachel asks.

"Nobody's Perfect by Hannah Montana" I say.

"Let's hear it" Aunt Quinn says. I grab the mike from the stand, and start to sing, dancing around as I do.

_Morgan:_

_Everybody makes mistakes_

_Everybody has those days_

_1, 2, 3, 4_

_Everybody makes mistakes_

_Everybody has those days_

_Everybody knows what, what, I'm talkin bout_

_Everybody gets that way_

_Everybody makes mistakes_

_Everybody has those days_

_Everybody knows what, what, I'm talkin' bout_

_Everybody gets that way_

_Sometimes I'm in a jam_

_I've gotta make a plan_

_It might be crazy_

_I do it anyway_

_No way to know for sure_

_I figure out a cure_

_I'm patchin' up the holes_

_But then it overflows_

_If I'm not doin' too well_

_Why be so hard on myself?_

_Nobody's perfect_

_I gotta work it_

_Again and again_

'_Til I get it right_

_Nobody's perfect_

_You live and you learn it_

_And if I mess it up sometimes_

_Nobody's perfect_

_Sometimes I work a scheme_

_But then it flips on me_

_Doesn't turn out how I planned_

_Gets stuck in quicksand_

_But no problem can't be solved_

_Once I get involved_

_I try to be delicate_

_Then crash right into it_

_But my intentions are good, yeah, yeah, yeah_

_Sometimes just misunderstood_

_Nobody's perfect_

_I gotta work it_

_Again and again_

'_Til I get it right_

_Nobody's perfect_

_You live and you learn it_

_And if I mess it up sometimes_

_Nobody's perfect_

_I gotta work it_

_I know in time I'll find a way_

_Nobody's perfect_

_Sometimes I fix things up_

_And they fall apart again_

_Nobody's perfect_

_I know I mix things up_

_But I always get it right in the end_

_You know I do_

_Next time you feel like_

_It's just one of those days_

_When you just can't seem to win_

_If things don't turn out the way you planned_

_Figure something else out_

_Don't stay down, try again, yeah!_

_Everybody makes mistakes_

_Everybody has those days_

_Everybody knows what, what I'm talkin' 'bout_

_Everybody gets that way_

_Everybody makes mistakes_

_Everybody has those days_

_Everybody knows what, what I'm talkin' bout_

_Everybody gets that way_

_Nobody's perfect_

_I gotta work it_

_Again and again_

'_Til I get it right_

_Nobody's perfect_

_You live and you learn it_

_And if I mess it up sometimes_

_Nobody's perfect_

_I gotta work it_

_I know in time I'll find a way_

_Nobody's perfect _

_You live and you learn it_

'_Cause everybody makes mistakes_

_Nobody's perfect_

_(Nobody's perfect)_

_No no_

_Nobody's perfect!_

"So what did you think?" I ask.

"I wasn't too keen on the song, but I like your voice, and your energy, it would be great to see what you could do on a different song" Aunt Rachel says.

"So does that mean I'm in?" I ask.

"You're in, we'll see you at our first rehearsal on Friday in the choir room at four" Aunt Quinn says.

"Thank you guys, I'll see you then" I say. I walk off the stage, and as I am walking another girl passes me. I do a double take, because it's like a reflection of myself is walking past me. That can't be my twin sister can it? No way! It was not supposed to be this easy, I thought I would actively have to search for her, not just run into her after my glee club audition. I guess there's only one way to find out. I hide behind the curtains in the wings and wait for her to introduce herself to Aunt Quinn and Aunt Rachel.

"Oh Morgan, we already said you were in, you don't need to audition again" Aunt Rachel says.

"I'm not Morgan, my name's Candice Hantz" she says.

"Sorry, our mistake, you just look exactly like the mirror image of the girl who just auditioned. Are you twins?" she asks.

"I don't think so, what was her name?" she asks.

"Morgan Lopez-Pierce" Aunt Quinn says. I rush onto the stage.

"I think Candice and I have some things to talk about" I say, taking her arm and leading her offstage.

"I think I'm your twin sister" we both say at the same time.

_Candice's POV_

_A knock on the door in the middle of the night wakes me up. I know exactly who it is and I don't want him to come in here, but there's nothing that I can do to stop him, it's not as if I have a lock on my door. The door swings open and my dad walks into my room. _

"_Hey baby" he says, sitting on my bed._

"_Just get it over with" I say closing my eyes. I feel his tongue in my mouth, his hands pulling my pyjama top off, and touching my breasts. I feel horrible, disgusting and wrong, all I want to do is push him off me, tell him to leave me alone, but I can't. I know he'll hurt me if I do. I'm not concentrating on what he's doing to me now; I'm remembering what he did to me when I was 12._

_**Flashback**_

"_**WHAT?" I hear my dad yelling from downstairs.**_

"_**She said that she doesn't want to see us, Marcus. She doesn't want to come live with us, she doesn't want to meet us, and she doesn't even want to call us" Mom says.**_

"_**What about Candice? Will she meet Candice?" he asks.**_

"_**She doesn't know about Candice, Marcus. Santana and Brittany never told her, just like we asked them to. Can you blame her for hating us? We did give her up for adoption" she says.**_

"_**We made a mistake! And now those bitches have our daughter, and she would rather stay with them than her own family!" Dad yells. **_

"_**Santana and Brittany raised her; to her they are her family. We've done everything we can Marcus, we have to let her come to us" Mom says.**_

"_**Well she's obviously never going to do that" Dad says and I hear his footsteps storming upstairs.**_

"_**What are you doing?" Mom asks.**_

"_**None of your damn business!" he shouts and I hear a smack as Dad slaps Mom's face. His footsteps get louder and louder as he makes his way closer to my room and I find myself ducking under the covers on my bed as a way of hiding.**_

"_**Your bitch of a sister rejected our very kind offer to come and live with us again, and you know what that means" Dad says, yanking the covers from over my head.**_

"_**No" I say firmly.**_

"_**You don't have a choice Cand-Bi, you have to do as I say" he says.**_

"_**No I don't" I say.**_

"_**Yes you do" he says pushing me back onto the bed. He presses down on my wrists so hard I want to scream. He pulls my favourite shirt off and I use the minute that his hands aren't clamped around my wrists to punch him in the nose. This angers him more and he ties my hands to the bed frame with his scarf. He rips off my bra, and starts to suck on my nipples. I kick out at him, trying to get him off me but he won't. He starts to trail kisses down my stomach. I scream; trying to attract Mom's attention but no one comes.**_

"_**What did you do to her?" I ask.**_

"_**She might have got knocked out when she fell, I don't know. Shut up, I don't like talk during" he says. I keep kicking at him, but he doesn't seem to care. He sticks his fingers into my underwear and then inside me. I feel like I'm going to be sick in my mouth, as he fingers me. I keep kicking him, aiming for his wrists but it's hard to get a good aim when he's doing what he's doing. I shut my eyes and start to count, I used to do that when I was younger, whenever he'd come into my room and do this. I figured that when I stopped counting, he'd be done. When I make it to 50, I open my eyes, and he's unzipping his pants. **_

"_**What are you doing?" I ask.**_

"_**I'm ramping it up a notch" he says. **_

"_**NO! This is all you get" I say.**_

"_**I'll take whatever I want, you ungrateful bitch" he says. He pulls off his pants, and then his briefs, and then his shirt. He moves in closer to me, and then forces his dick inside my mouth. **_

"_**SUCK!" he yells into my ear. I can't say anything, so I do as he says, moving my mouth up and down, feeling the slick, sticky cum in my mouth. I pull myself away and throw up down the side of my bed. **_

"_**You disgust me" he says and he pulls my skirt off, and rips my underwear. He smashes my head against the back of my bed, and I feel dizzy, blood trickling down from my forehead. He starts to blur in front of me, and I'm not very aware of what's happening anymore. He forces himself inside me, and I'm vaguely aware of blood trickling down my legs and a strong sensation of pain, and of fighting the need to throw up again. I don't know how long it goes on for, I feel like I'm drifting, like I'm watching this happen to me from above, but I'm not really there. I've stopped struggling, too weak to fight him off anymore. Eventually the pain stops, and I feel him slipping out of me. I throw up again, all over my covers. **_

"_**It's been a pleasure, bitch" he says, slamming my head against the back of the bed again, hard enough so that I pass out.**_

_**End of flashback**_

_When I open my eyes, he's still there, moaning in pleasure as he moves up and down inside me. I lie there, cold, numb and unfeeling, counting in my head and waiting until it's over. I don't even struggle anymore there's no point and I find that the less I struggle the less painful it is. _

_He pulls away from me eventually, and kisses me on the lips, although I don't return the kiss. He leans in towards my ear._

"_This is our little secret remember, it's just for us. We don't tell your mom what we do" he whispers._

"_I promise" I whisper back, a well-choreographed, well-rehearsed dance by now. I know exactly what I need to say and what I need to do to get him to leave my room. He picks up his clothes, quickly dresses and then quietly leaves the room. _

_I slip into the en-suite attached to my bedroom and pull my pyjamas back on. I look in the mirror, tracing the line of the scar that runs from the top of my forehead down my cheek. 23 stitches I had to have after that night when I was 12, and the scar remains as a permanent reminder. I turn the taps on, as I always do, and then I throw myself onto the floor, sobbing into the shower mat._

_I wake up still on the bathroom floor, after probably having spent most of the night crying. I get up, wiping my eyes with a tissue. I must have remembered to turn the taps off before I went to sleep, otherwise I'd probably be floating by now. I undress, and quickly shower, washing the horrible scent of my father's sweat off myself, although no matter how much I wash, I never feel completely clean. After about 20 minutes in the shower, I jump out, and dry myself before going to my room to get dressed. _

_My clothes are preppy; I wanted to have a different style to other people at school, something that was distinctively mine. I choose a pink polo shirt, a pleated lilac tennis skirt with a pair of tights underneath, a white blazer on top, a pair of pink ballet flats, pearl earrings and my beige tote bag. Once I have picked out my clothes, I grab my curling iron and go to the bathroom, and turn it on. Whilst I'm waiting for the iron to heat up, I grab a book from my bookshelf. It's our assigned book for English this semester; we're doing dystopian novels, so our class has been assigned The Hunger Games. I'm really enjoying it; it's just my kind of book, lots of action. I'm not looking forward to our Junior Year assignment as we have to do a John Green book and I'm not all that keen on those. I get through a chapter of my book, and then my curling iron has heated up. I don't completely curl my hair; I just curl it into soft waves rather than ringlets. _

_Breakfast in the morning is always my least favourite time of the day. I have to sit with my mom and dad and pretend that my dad didn't do what he did last night. Ten years I've had to pretend that my dad doesn't come into my room, touch me, kiss me, make me have sex with him and I'm pretty tired of it. I hate them, both of them, my mom and my dad. My dad is pretty obvious, but I hate my mom too because she must know. She cannot possibly not know where my dad goes when he sneaks out of their room at night, and yet she does nothing to stop him, and every morning we end up here, pretending that there's nothing wrong and that we're all one big happy family. I'm almost resentful of Morgan, because if she had agreed to come back and live with us then none of this would ever have happened to me. I don't blame her though, her adoptive moms are probably much nicer than my parents (well I guess they're our parents but she doesn't think of them like that and why should she? They gave her up) so why would she want to come and live with us? When she has a great life, and lovely siblings, and parents who really love her, why would she give all that up? I guess I'm just slightly envious (well more than slightly) that she was the one they gave up and she got to have a better life than I have._

_I walk downstairs, where to my surprise (and delight), my dad is not there, just my mom making porridge._

"_Hi sweetheart" she says when she sees me._

"_Hey Mom. Where's Dad?" I ask._

"_He had an early meeting to go to, so I made him breakfast earlier. I think he's a little upset, Morgan keeps blowing us off" she says._

"_Why can't you guys just leave her alone? Let her live her life in peace. She obviously doesn't want to meet you guys, so why can't you just let it go?" I say._

"_It's your dad honey, I've told him a million times that we can't force her to see us if she doesn't want to and that we should leave her be, but you know what he's like. Once he has an idea in his head he won't let it go until he's got what he wants" she says._

"_Yes I know exactly what he's like" I say. The uncomfortable look on her face tells me that she knows what I'm talking about. I don't push it any further, but I do like watching her squirm. She knows what he does to me and she doesn't do anything to stop it so she deserves to squirm at least a little. _

"_So I'm not sure what I can do to stop him, the texts he sends from his phone are his own business. I'm sure that eventually he'll realise that it's pointless to try and convince her to come back here, but until then, there's nothing that I can do" she says._

_I want to retort back that there's always nothing she can do, but I don't want to get into a fight with her, so I don't say anything, I just take my seat at the kitchen table and wait for her to finish making the porridge. When she does, she brings the porridge over along with a pot of jam and places them in front of me on the table._

"_Just the way you like it" she says. She gets a bottle of maple syrup from the cupboard and squeezes some out onto her own porridge. I spoon some jam into mine and mix it in. _

"_So how's school going?" she asks, picking a subject we both know is safe. We only have certain topics we can talk about, talking about my dad or Morgan is usually off limits, and she was the one who brought it up this morning. Usually we only talk about school, and my dance lessons, and the TV shows we watch. My mom and I aren't at all close, we never have been. She probably wishes that I was the daughter she'd given up, rather than Morgan._

"_It's fine, I'm doing good in all my classes" I say._

"_And extra-curriculars? Are you doing anything this year?" she asks._

"_I heard that Mrs Hudson and Mrs Puckerman are starting up a Glee Club at school, so I think I might join. I mean I like to sing and I like to dance so it might be good for me" I say._

"_That sounds like a good idea. Do you know if Morgan's joining?" she asks._

"_How would I know? Morgan Lopez-Pierce has no idea who I am, we don't speak to each other, we don't know each other, and we're basically strangers. I have no idea whether she likes that sort of thing or not" I say._

"_I'm sure she does, her moms are very into that sort of thing, after all Brittany is a choreographer and Santana's a ballet teacher, so they've probably passed on their interests to her" Mom says._

"_Maybe" I reply. _

"_This could be a chance for the two of you to meet, get to know each other. Maybe you could persuade her that coming home wouldn't be so bad" she says._

"_For starters, it's all your fault that we don't know each other before now, you were the one who gave her up and made sure that her parents wouldn't tell her about me, and secondly, there is no way in hell that I'm going to do that, they are her family Mom and she's not going to leave them, no matter what I say" I say._

"_But we're her family too" she says._

"_Blood doesn't always make a family Mom" I say. I don't explicitly say that our family is perfect example of that, but judging by the face she makes, I think she got the underlying message. The two of us finish eating our breakfast in silence and then as soon as I'm done, I practically sprint out of the door. I can't drive yet, but I hate spending time in the car with my mom, so even though my house is basically on the other side of Lima to McKinley, I rollerblade the hour there and back every day so I can avoid my mom. Rollerblading might seem weird, it would probably be more practical to cycle, but I've been doing it since I was a little kid and I love it. I arrive at school just in the nick of time as the buzzer goes to signal the start of first period. I grab my Chemistry textbook from my locker, replace my rollerblades with my shoes and then run to the Chem lab, making it there just five minutes before my teacher does. I take my seat next to Tami White, and quickly get all of my stuff in order before my teacher arrives. _

_The day passes pretty slowly from there, just an average school day. I'm not that keen on school, aside from English, the one lesson I truly love. After lunch I have a free period, so after I've done some homework, I grab my rollerblades from my locker and walk over to the auditorium. _

_When I arrive there is another girl already auditioning, so I wait in the wings for her to be finished. The girl's pretty good, and I love Hannah Montana, judge me all you want, but that show was actually pretty cool. Not as good as CSI which is like my favourite show ever, but still pretty cool. I can't really see her very well, standing where I am in the wings though._

_Mrs Puckerman and Mrs Hudson talk to her for a little bit before she walks off stage. She walks past me and I swear it's like staring into a mirror. That can't be Morgan, can it? It can't be, but it has to be, there's no one else in the world that looks exactly like me. I shrug it off, and walk onto the stage anyway. _

"_Oh, Morgan we already said you were in, you don't need to audition again" Mrs Hudson says._

"_I'm not Morgan, my name's Candice" I say._

"_Sorry, our mistake, you just look exactly like the mirror image of the girl who just auditioned. Are you twins?" she asks._

"_I don't think so, what was her name?" I ask._

"_Morgan Lopez-Pierce" Mrs Puckerman says._

_Morgan rushes onto stage, and says "I think Candice and I have some things to talk about" before dragging me off. _

"_I think I'm your twin sister" we both say at the same time. Neither of us speaks for a few minutes, both in shock of the fact that we've found each other. I honestly thought that I was never going to meet Morgan and now here she is, standing right in front of me. _

"_I can't believe it's you. My mom only told me that you existed this morning and now here you are in front of me" she says, giving me a hug._

"_I'm not really sure what to say. What do you say to your long lost twin sister who you've never met before?" I ask._

"_I'm not entirely sure" she says and we both laugh._

"_Are you okay Candice? Do you still want to audition?" Mrs Hudson calls._

"_You should go audition. We can talk after" she says._

"_Wait here for me?" I ask._

"_Of course" she says. I walk back onto the stage._

"_Is everything okay? We understand if you'd want to reschedule, we can make a special exception given the circumstances" Mrs Puckerman says._

"_No it's fine, I'd like to audition now" I say._

"_What will you be auditioning with?" Mrs Hudson asks._

"_Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, by Cyndi Lauper" I say._

"_That's a great song, let's hear it" she says. I quickly switch out my shoes for my rollerblades and skate over to the other side of the stage to give my backing track to the tech guy. I skate back, nod to him that I'm ready to start and then start my song, skating around as I do so, performing cartwheels, handstands and somersaults._

_**Candice:**_

_**I come home in the morning light**_

_**My mother says when you gonna live your life right**_

_**Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones**_

_**And girls they want to have fun**_

_**Oh girls just want to have fun**_

_**The phone rings in the middle of the night**_

_**My father yells what you gonna do with your life**_

_**Oh daddy dear you know you're still number one**_

_**But girls they want to **_**have**_** fun**_

_**Oh girls just want to have**_

_**That's all they really want**_

_**Some fun**_

_**When the working day is done**_

_**Girls-they want to have fun**_

_**Oh girls just want to have fun**_

_**Some boys take a beautiful girl**_

_**And hide her away from the rest of the world**_

_**I want to be the one to walk in the sun**_

_**Oh girls they want to have fun**_

_**Oh girls just want to have**_

_**That's all they really want**_

_**Some fun**_

_**When the working day is done**_

_**Girls-they want to have fun**_

_**Oh girls just want to have fun**_

_**They want to have fun,**_

_**They want to have fun…..**_

_I finish the routine by doing the splits, and clapping my hands once above my head. "So what did you think?" I ask, when I get up. _

"_I think you're a very talented performer Candice, it must run in the family. You and Morgan are twins aren't you?" Mrs Hudson says._

"_Uh, yes we are. Newly acquainted" I say._

"_As in just met today?" Mrs Puckerman asks._

"_Yeah, that would be about right" I say. "So am I in or not? Or can't you tell me?" I ask._

"_You're in; we could use someone with your talents. We'll be posting a full list on Friday, but that's really more so that everyone can find out who all the other members are. The meeting is on Friday, at four, in the choir room, so don't be late" Mrs Hudson says. _

"_Thank you, I'm really looking forward to it" I say smiling. I skate off the stage, where Morgan is still waiting for me. _

"_Rollerblades?" she asks. _

"_I've been skating since I was a little kid, I skate to and from school every day and I'm pretty well practiced at dancing in skates by now" I say._

"_Can you teach me? I've always wanted to learn how, but never had the chance to" she says._

"_Sure, maybe we could go to the park on Saturday" I say._

"_That would be great" she says smiling. _

"_You still have some time before your next class right?" I ask._

"_Yeah, a little bit. You want to go somewhere and talk?" she asks._

"_And try to catch up 15 years in 30 minutes? Sounds great" I say. We start to walk over to the library together. _

"_So what are Mom and Dad like?" she asks._

"_I thought you didn't want to meet them" I say._

"_I don't, I'm perfectly happy with my moms but I just want to know what your life with them is like" she says._

"_Our relationship is kind of strained, and if you don't mind, that's all I'd like to say about it right now" I say. _

"_Okay, well do you want to know about my moms? And Lexi, and Brant?" she says._

"_Sure that would be great" I say. _

"_Well my mom, that's Brittany, is a choreographer, she's sweet, a little…I think the right word is kooky, but she's a great Mom, kind and caring, and we have a lot of fun together. My Mami Santana is lovely too, stricter than my mom but she's the firm but fair type. She teaches ballet. Lexi's my sister, she's very type A, organised, involved in almost every single club there is at this school, but she's great, really bubbly and a lot of fun to be around. Brant's my brother, he's a swimmer, he can be a little abrasive sometimes, but most of the time he's pretty friendly. He'll always stand up for me, he's very protective and we kind of tease each other, you know just an ordinary sibling relationship" she says._

"_No wonder you never wanted to come back to us, your family sounds wonderful" I say, jealous that she has amazing moms and siblings whilst I have no siblings (aside from her and she doesn't live with me) and awful parents. _

"_If I'd known about you before now, I swear I would have sought you out. My mom literally only told me this morning and she blabbed by mistake" she says._

"_Well we're here now right?" I say._

"_Yeah we are" she says smiling. "So aside from rollerblading, what are you into?" she asks._

"_Well obviously I like to sing, and dance too. Umm I love playing Fighting Games, Mortal Kombat, Trekken, Street Fighter, that sort of thing" I say._

"_No kidding, me too. I was up until like two last night playing Street Fighter" she says. _

"_Well we'll have to play together sometime" I say. "I also love Horror movies; and CSI" I add._

"_Me too! What's your favourite film?" she asks._

"_Is it wrong to say Rocky Horror? I know it's a musical horror comedy rather than a straight horror but I love it" I say._

"_That is a great movie, although I have to say my personal favourite is Dracula" she says._

"_You have good taste" I compliment._

"_So CSI, favourite character?" she asks._

"_Sara Sidle I love her. How about you?" I say._

"_Morgan Brody, her chemistry with Greg is immense" she says. _

"_Okay, so books? Love them or loathe them?" I ask._

"_Oh my god, love. I like a whole range of things, but my favourites are still the Sherlock Holmes stories. There is something incredibly sexy about a guy that smart" she says._

"_I totally agree. Which one's your favourite story?" I ask._

"_A Scandal In Bohemia, I love him and Irene Adler, she's the only one who seems to be able to match his intelligence" she says._

"_I like that one too, although my favourite is The Adventure of The Empty House, where he comes back and explains how he faked his death. What do you think of the TV show?" I say._

"_It's pretty good, and Benedict Cumberbatch was so gorgeous when he was younger, but I prefer the movies. I just love the old Victorian setting, and Robert Downey Jr was just hot!" she says._

"_Some people say our dad looks like Robert Downey Jr" I say._

"_Our dad's hot?" she asks._

"_Well I'm not sure it's entirely appropriate for you to think of him like that, but if you asked the women at his work who seem to fawn over him, then I think they'd say so" I say._

"_So speaking of boys, do you have a boyfriend? Or girlfriend? I don't just assume that you could only have a boyfriend" she says._

"_Well I appreciate that, but no, I don't have either. Yet, anyway, Sierra Hummel-Anderson set me up with some girl named Sydney Lawson, do you know her?" I say._

"_Sydney? Yeah she goes to my Mami's ballet classes, she seems sweet enough, but I haven't had an extended conversation with her, the most I know about her is that she's English" she says._

"_Ooh that's great, English accents are so sexy!" I say, winking at her, and making her laugh. "So how about you? Any boyfriend? Or girlfriend?" I ask. _

"_Just a crush actually, although my friend Clara doesn't think I should go out with him, she says he's a bad guy and that he'll hurt me, but I don't think so" she says._

"_Well who is he?" I ask._

"_Jackson Avery" she says._

"_Well since I've only just met you, I'm not really in any place to tell you what you should or shouldn't do, but I have heard that he's a bit of a playboy, so just be careful okay" I say._

"_I will be, but he honestly doesn't seem as bad as Clara seems to think he is" she says._

"_That's what makes a good playboy, girls think he's harmless until they're the ones who've had their heart broken" I say. _

"_Well he seemed nice enough to me" she says._

"_I'm not saying you shouldn't date him Morgan, just be careful, alright?" I say._

"_Alright. You can call me Mo okay, all my family does" she says and I smile, glad that she's comfortable enough to call me family already._

"_You can call me Candi, everyone does" I reply. _

"_Okay" she says. "So how come you joined Glee Club?" she asks._

"_I want be signed to a record label someday" I say._

"_Me too" she says smiling. "Maybe we could get signed as a sister duo" she adds._

"_That would be cool" I say. "So where were we? Musical idol?" I ask_

"_Easy June Carter" she says._

"_No way!" I say._

"_Why?" she asks._

"_Mine is Johnny Cash" I say._

"_That is so perfect! We are going to have so much fun singing duets in Glee Club together" she says. _

"_So aside from Glee Club, what else do you do for extra-curriculars?" I ask. _

"_Oh I'm the President of Cinema Club; we watch films each week and discuss them. How about you?" she says._

"_Glee's actually the first club I've joined here. I've always wanted there to be one. Wait you don't dance? I would have thought with your moms both being into dancing you would be too" I say._

"_Actually neither my brother or sister or I ever got into it. Brant was always more into swimming and Lexi's into almost everything but not dancing. You like to dance though?" she asks._

"_Yeah I take lessons at Mike Chang's studio" I say._

"_Oh he's a family friend of ours" she says._

"_Really?" I ask._

"_Yeah, my moms went to high school with him" she says. "So what kind of dance do you like?" she asks._

"_A little bit of everything" I say._

"_So you never took classes at my Mami's?" she asks._

"_No, my parents would never let me" I say._

"_A shame, but not exactly unexpected, considering that they asked my moms not to tell me about you. Why do they keep harassing me to come and stay with you guys?" she says._

"_Once my dad gets an idea in his head it's stuck there. I can try to talk to him but I doubt he'll listen. For what it's worth, I never asked them to do that" I say._

"_I didn't think you would, but if you tried to talk to him I would be really grateful. I mean the number of texts I get a day is bordering on harassment now" she says._

"_I'm sorry about him, he's a jerk" I say. We chat for a little longer about books, and movies, and music until the buzzer goes to signal the end of our free period._

"_I'll give you my number okay, and then you can text me and we can organise going rollerblading on Saturday" she says. _

"_I'd love that" I say, giving her a hug. We walk to our lockers together, and then head our separate ways to our different classes._

_At the end of the day, I meet Sierra on the steps. She's standing next to a pretty ginger haired girl, wearing a summer dress and tights. She's shorter than me, but not by too much, and her hair is long and flies out behind her in the wind. She's certainly pretty, I'll give her that much._

"_Hi, I'm Candice Hantz, but you can call me Candi" I say, stretching my hand out to her._

"_I'm Sydney Lawson, but you can just call me Syd" she says. As I expected, her English accent is so sexy. _

"_So that's everyone acquainted, now let's go, Sydney's going to drive us to the Lima Bean" Sierra says. We walk over to Sydney's car, a little red mini. _

"_It was my mom's but she gave it to me when I learned to drive. The best thing about moving from England was that I could learn to drive a year earlier, although I honestly don't get why you guys can't drink until 21, you can drink at 18 in England" she says. _

"_It's a cool car" I say._

"_Thanks. So you want to go or what?" she asks. We all get into the car and drive the fifteen minutes from school to The Lima Bean. Sydney seems nice enough, very chatty, incredibly excitable but sweet too. _

_We go into the coffee shop, and I order for all of us. "What would you guys like?" I ask._

"_Mocha Latte" Sierra says._

"_Hot Chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows" Sydney says. _

"_One Mocha Latte, one hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows, and a green tea please" I say._

_We wait by the counter for a few minutes until the barista comes back with our drinks, then we each take our own and walk to a booth in the back._

"_So have you joined Glee Club too Sydney?" I ask._

"_Yes I have. I love singing, and dancing, and I want to be a star in the West End someday, that's the British version of Broadway" she says._

"_I know what it is. What's your favourite show?" I ask._

"_The Lion King, it's a great show based on my favourite movie. How about you?" she asks._

"_Frozen, I'm so glad they finally made it into a Broadway show, I love that movie" I say._

"_You have good taste" she compliments._

"_Thank you" I reply. "So Sierra tells me you dance?" I ask._

"_Mainly ballet and jazz but I like to do a little bit of everything, since the best training to be a performer, for dancing anyway is to experience as many different dance styles as possible and I'm in McKinley Mixers and we do street and hip-hop dance. How about you?" she says._

"_Mostly slow stuff, ballet, contemporary, lyrical, that sort of thing, I love how you can tell a story through that type of dance" I say._

"_I love the storytelling and emotional part of dance too, but I also enjoy some of the faster paced stuff, I find it a lot more fun" she says. We talk a little more about dance, she tells me about McKinley Mixers, and we talk about our upcoming exams for ballet. _

"_So I guess you mainly like theatre music then?" I ask._

"_Mostly yeah. What about you?" she asks._

"_Well my musical idol is Johnny Cash, so I like quite a bit of country stuff, but I like a lot of different music as well, I wouldn't say I have a specific favourite" I say. "So how long have you lived in Ohio for?" I ask._

"_Oh we moved here when I was thirteen. My dad got a new job here, so we all had to move out with him" she says._

"_Do you miss England?" I ask._

"_Yeah, a lot. London's great, you can't quite match the feel of a big city, and if you tell me it's just like New York, I swear I'm going to scream because London is so much better" she says._

"_I wasn't going to say that. I've never been to London, I'd love to go though" I say._

"_We go back there all the time, maybe you could come with me and my family one time?" she asks._

"_That sounds great" I say._

"_So what are your parents like?" she asks._

"_We're not that close, and if you don't mind, I don't really like talking about them" I say. _

"_Of course, I won't make you talk about anyone you don't want to" she says._

"_Thanks. So how about your family? What are they like?" I ask._

"_My family are great, my mom's an actress, that's why I wanted to go into acting in the first place, but she does movies rather than theatre, and I go to the sets of her movies when school allows me to, have done since I was a little kid. She's the whole reason I got into music in the first place, she's always loved it and she was the one who signed me up to singing and dancing and acting classes. I tell her everything; we're kind of more like best friends than mother and daughter. My dad does something in finance, I'm not entirely sure, I switch off whenever he talks about his job, but he's musical too, he taught me how to play piano. Me and my sister Charlotte, are best friends, we're into all the same things, and she's only a year younger than me, so that kind of helps. I have a younger brother Eric as well but he's kind of a loner, he spends most of his time shut in his room. He's a writer actually, so he's kind of that brooding loner type. He's 12" she says._

"_Your family sounds great" I say wistfully, wishing that my family was as good as Sydney's family sounds. Heck anyone's family sounds great compared to my creepy dad, and my uncaring mom._

"_They are. So do you have any siblings?" she asks._

"_A twin sister, but she was adopted by another family, and I only met her today" I say._

"_Wow, I've never met anyone with a long-lost twin before. What's she like?" she asks._

"_Well, my family is a little strange. She's nice, she's exactly like me, and it's kind of strange to meet someone who not only looks exactly like you but has almost exactly the same personality as well" I say._

"_I always thought it would be cool to have a twin" she says._

"_Well I'll let you know" I say smiling. "So other than arts stuff, what else do you like to do?" I ask._

"_Well I like to shop, but then again what girl doesn't? I love spending time with my family, umm I do gymnastics as well, and I do horse riding, I love horses" she says._

"_Really? Horses have always kind of scared me" I say._

"_They're lovely animals, you have to respect them of course, but there's no greater feeling than flying around a course of jumps on the back of a horse" she says. "You should come down to the stables with me and have a go sometime" she says._

"_I think I'll pass, but I would like to come and see you ride" I say._

"_I'll take that as a victory, okay then, I'd love that" she says. "So what do you like to do, other than singing and dancing?" she asks. _

"_I like to rollerblade, umm I like playing fighting games, watching horror movies, watching CSI, and reading" I say._

"_You like rollerblading too? My sister and I always used to do it in Regent's Park at home" she says. _

"_Maybe you and your sister could come with me after school one time. I rollerblade to and from school anyway, so we could just take a detour to the park" I say._

"_Does that not take you forever?" she asks._

"_It takes a while, but I like the time to be alone with my thoughts" I say._

"_I understand, that's why I love to ride so much, it's just you and the horse and you have time to just be alone with your thoughts" Sydney says. _

"_Are you okay Sierra? I'm sorry we've kind of been ignoring you" she says._

"_I'm fine, I think I'll just finish my drink, and then call Abby to come and pick me up. You guys seem to be hitting it off, so I think I can safely leave you" she says._

"_Are you sure? I can always drive you home if you want" Sydney says._

"_No, you should stay and have fun, I was really just here to introduce you guys and I think my job is over, so I'll go and you guys can continue getting to know each other without having to worry about me being a third wheel" she says. She quickly downs the rest of her mocha latte and then says goodbye to us before walking out of the coffee shop._

"_You want to try something?" Sydney asks when Sierra is gone._

"_What?" I ask._

"_Sing with me?" she asks._

"_Right here, right now?" I ask. _

"_Why not?" she asks._

"_For one thing, there's no music" I say._

"_Learn to live a little, we don't need music or anything else to sing, just our voices. Besides what better way to test if we're actually good together than by singing a duet?" she says._

"_Fine, but if this goes totally wrong then I'm blaming you" I say. "What should we sing?" I ask._

"_I think I know the perfect song" she says. She whispers it in my ear and I smile. We walk to the front of coffee shop, sitting on stools in front of the counter._

"_If we could have everyone's attention please?" Sydney says. Everyone in the shop turns around to face us. "My friend and I would like to sing something for you, and if you enjoy it then a small donation in the hat would be appreciated" she says, taking off her hat. _

_We look at each other, and she nods at me, signalling that I should start the song._

_**Candice:**_

_**Tale as old as time**_

_**True as it can be**_

_**Barely even friends**_

_**Then somebody bends**_

_**Unexpectedly**_

_**Sydney:**_

_**Just a little change**_

_**Small to say the least**_

_**Both a little scared**_

_**Neither one prepared**_

_**Beauty and the beast**_

_**Candice:**_

_**Ever just the same**_

_**Ever a surprise**_

_**Ever as before**_

_**Ever just as sure**_

_**As the sun will rise**_

_**Both:**_

_**Tale as old as time**_

_**Tune as old as song**_

_**Bitter sweet and strange**_

_**Finding you can change**_

_**Learning you were wrong**_

_**Certain as the sun**_

_**Rising in the east**_

_**Tale as old as time**_

_**Song as old as rhyme**_

_**Sydney:**_

_**Beauty and the beast**_

_**Candice:**_

_**Beauty and the beast**_

_The room erupts in cheers after we finish singing and people come up to put money in Sydney's hat._

"_That was great you guys, how long have you been together?" a girl called Amelia asks us from behind the counter._

"_This is actually our first date" I say. _

"_Wow you sound like you've been together a lot longer based on that song" one of the other customers says._

"_Well thank you" Sydney says. I kept expecting someone to say something about us being two girls singing together in public and how dare we, but everyone is simply complementary about the song and our voices. We spend a while fielding questions from the excited crowd, including one girl who asks if she can post a video she recorded of us singing on YouTube._

"_Sorry guys, we have to go, if I don't get home soon, my mom will kill me" Sydney says. I really don't want to leave; I'm having a lot of fun with Sydney and it's not as if I have anything to look forward to at home, it will just be another night of me shutting myself in my room to avoid my parents. I wish I was 18 already, and could leave home, so I didn't have to put up with them. It might seem harsh, but it's not as if my parents have ever cared about me. It's not like they don't make it obvious that they gave up the wrong daughter._

"_Are you sure you want to take me home? My house is probably way out of your way" I say._

"_This was a date right?" she says._

"_Of course" I reply._

"_Then part of the date is me driving you home, no matter how far away your house is" she says._

"_Well you're very sweet" I say._

"_Hadn't you figured that out yet?" she asks, flicking her hair._

"_I think I'm starting to" I say smiling. _

"_So tell me something" she says._

"_What?" I ask._

"_Something no one else knows" she says._

_I really don't have anything of that type, except for the whole issues with my dad, which I'm not going to talk about on a first date. _

"_I'm an open book" I say._

"_Come on, everyone has secrets" she says._

"_Not me" I reply. "How about you? Tell me something about you that no one else knows" I say._

"_I'm scared of thunderstorms. My dad crashed our car in one once and they've freaked me out ever since" she says._

"_Were you hurt?" I ask._

"_A broken arm, that was all, but it really shook me up" she says._

"_I can imagine. You seriously haven't told anyone about that?" I ask._

"_No, I assume that most people would think I was being a little kid if I said I was scared of thunderstorms" she says._

"_I don't" I say._

"_Yeah, well you're special" she says. _

"_Am I?" I ask, batting my eyelashes._

"_Yes you are. What do you say we listen to some music?" she asks._

"_Sounds good" I say. She turns on her car radio and for the rest of the drive home, we sing along at the tops of our voices. It's the most fun I've had in a long time, Sydney has an amazing ability to help me let loose, which is difficult for me given everything that I've been through with my parents. _

_Eventually we pull up in front of my house. One of the reasons I wasn't sure about Sydney driving me to my house, aside from the fact that it's far away, is that my house isn't in the best part of town. We live in a rundown little cottage, and although the inside of the house is a lot nicer than the outside, it's still a little embarrassing for Sydney to see where I live._

"_Should I check for carjackers?" she jokes. "I'm sorry was that mean? I don't have the best filter" she says._

"_Don't worry; I know that I live in a sucky neighbourhood. I'm sure your place is much nicer than mine" I say. _

"_Yeah it is. Sorry too honest?" she asks._

"_No, your honesty is refreshing" I say._

"_I had a really great time today" she says._

"_Me too" I say._

"_Would you like to do it again sometime?" she asks._

"_How about rollerblading in the park after school tomorrow?" I suggest. _

"_Sounds great only I have to bring my sister home, she got picked up by my mom today, but my mom can't pick her up tomorrow" she says._

"_Well why not bring her? I'll bring my sister too, she said she wanted to learn to skate, so then no one will end up being left out like Sierra was today" I say._

"_It's not exactly a date then is it?" she says, raising her eyebrows._

"_Well how about we do that tomorrow and then you come out for dinner with me on Friday?" I ask._

"_Sounds like a plan" she says smiling. _

"_I'll see you tomorrow" I say._

"_See you tomorrow" she says and then she leans forward, and kisses me, for several minutes before we both pull away._

"_You think that will last you until tomorrow?" she asks, winking._

"_Definitely" I say, returning the wink before getting out of the car. I wave her off, before walking inside the house. _

_My mum is in the kitchen when I walk in. "What do you look so happy about?" she asks._

"_Just had a good day that's all" I say._

"_You look like you met someone. Did you meet someone?" she asks._

"_Blind date" I reply._

"_Who were they? Boy or a girl?" she asks._

"_Girl" I reply. _

"_Well what was she like?" she asks._

"_Oh please, don't start acting like you care about me and my life now" I say._

"_Candi, I do care about you, you're my daughter of course I care" she says._

"_If you cared about me even one tiny bit, then you would have stopped what you know has been happening in this house for the past ten years but you don't because you wish, just like dad did that you'd kept your other daughter and given me away, and don't you dare try and deny it because I know it's true" I yell, and storm off before she even has the chance to say anything else, feeling like I should have the last word here. It feels like a relief to finally get these words off my chest. I fling open the door, and collapse onto my bed and cry, but not in sadness, more in anger because I've spent all these years being hurt by my dad, and my mom has known about it all this time. It's not fair, why did this have to happen to me? How can I go from being so happy, to so angry? Why do I always seem to be the victim__?_

**Josh's POV**

_Flashback_

"_So have you got everything?" Mom asks me worriedly._

"_Yes Mom, I'll be fine. It's just a sleepover, nothing's going to happen. We'll watch movies, we'll talk, we'll eat massive amounts of junk food, and then we'll go to sleep" I say._

"_Well if you're having a bad time, you know you can always call me to pick you up, no matter what time it is, I'll be right over" she says._

"_I'll be fine Mom, but thanks" I say. _

"_You sure?" she asks. _

"_Yes, Mom, I'll be fine. Now go, none of the other kids moms are hanging around, you're embarrassing me" I say. She ruffles my hair and then kisses me on the forehead._

"_Have fun okay, sweetheart" she says._

"_I will" I reply. I grab my stuff from out the back of the car, and then walk up to the front door and ring the doorbell. Derek (whose house I'm staying at) answers the door._

"_Hey Joshie, come on in" Derek says smiling at me. There's something a little off about him, I can't exactly work out what, but he doesn't seem like his normal self._

"_Are you okay?" I ask._

"_I'm fine, we were just wondering when you were going to get here. Everyone else is here already" he says._

"_I'm sorry; we got stuck in traffic on the way here. What did I miss?" I ask._

"_Well you got here just in time for pizza" he says. All of the guys are sitting around a table in Derek's living room, scoffing down multiple slices of pizza. I reach for a full glass of lemonade but Derek completely freaks out._

"_NOT THAT ONE! THAT'S MINE, YOURS IS THE ONE TO YOUR LEFT" Derek yells. I'm not sure why he's so freaked over this, but I shrug and take the other lemonade glass. He takes the one that was closest to me. _

_We spend the evening, as I told my mom we would, watching movies, talking and eating huge amounts of junk food. Derek keeps offering me lemonade which I find a little strange but I take it anyway. It's only about halfway through the evening when I start to feel a little groggy, and sick that I suspect something is wrong. _

"_I don't feel good" I mutter._

"_Why don't you go lie down? My parents have a really comfortable bed" Derek says. I nod, and stumble up the stairs, only just making it to Derek's parents' room before I throw up, all over their bed. A few minutes later I hear a knock at the door._

"_Are you okay Josh?" Derek asks._

"_I'm fine" I mumble although I feel terrible. My vision is blurry, I feel sick and dizzy, and like I could pass out any second. _

_The door opens to reveal Derek and my other friends, all standing there. They walk into the room, and Derek comes over to my side. He helps me up and pulls the soiled sheets off the bed. I am about to thank him, when he pushes me back down onto the bed._

"_What are you doing?" I ask._

"_We're going to have a little fun" he says. _

"_No!" I yell and I try to push him off but my muscles feel like they've turned to jelly and I don't have enough strength to fight him._

"_Fighting it will only make it worse" he says. He forces his tongue inside my mouth, kissing me. I try to kick out with my legs but every time I kick him, he slaps me, hard on the cheek, every time. He tugs off my t-shirt, I try desperately to hold it down so he can't pull it off, but my hands are so shaky that it's not effective and he tugs my shirt off. He grabs my shaking hands and forces me to pull off his shirt too. He unzips my trousers with his teeth. I try to slap his hand away but he punches me in the eye and then just continues anyway. He pulls my trousers down and then my pants, leaving me naked except for my socks which he quickly removes. _

"_Your turn" he says._

"_NO!" I mumble, groggily, but what I hope is firmly. He grabs my left hand twisting my wrist, and making me cry out in pain. He lets go, and growls in my ear "see what happens if you don't do as I say". I bite my lip from the pain that radiates out from my wrist. I gingerly unzip his jeans, and pull them off, then his pants and then his socks. _

"_Grab it" he says._

"_What?" I ask._

"_Ugh, do I have to do everything myself?" he sighs. He grabs my right hand and forces me to touch his dick. I shudder as I feel him getting hard against my hand, and pull my hand away as soon as humanly possible. He forces me onto my front and pulls me up onto my knees by my ear. He binds my hands in front of me to the bed, using the sleeves of his t-shirt. _

"_Stop it!" I cry. _

"_You'll enjoy it, I promise" he says. I feel his hands on my ass, forcing my asshole to open wider. He licks it, and I cringe. I try to force him off, but seconds later he has jammed his dick in. I scream in pain, as he shoves harder and harder into me. He scrapes his fingernails along my back, as he thrusts, and I cannot do anything about it because I'm tied up. I struggle against the t-shirt that's tying me to the bed, but all that does is encourage him to be even rougher. I look over to my friends, begging them with my eyes to stop him from doing this to me, but no one helps. I feel tears streaming down my face, and although I don't like people seeing me cry, I don't stop them. _

_I fall asleep eventually, whatever Derek put in my lemonade made me increasingly drowsy, and whether it's from the pain or the drug, I eventually just drift off, only vaguely aware of Derek still pounding into me. When I wake up, Derek and all his cronies are gone, but I am still tied there, naked, and my entire body throbbing. He didn't even bother to untie me before he left. I'm still in his parents' bedroom so I'm not entirely sure where they are, or even if they're here. We've probably been alone all night. I'm guessing that Derek set this whole thing up, most likely with the help of his friends. I wriggle free from the t-shirt that ties me to the bed. _

_I walk into Derek's parents' bathroom to examine the damage. Derek gave me a black eye, my left wrist is swollen to about twice its normal size, my right wrist is bruised and I have scratches all the way down my back. I can't stand looking at myself, I feel dirty and ugly and disgusting. I throw up into the toilet, although after last night I'm not sure what can be left in my stomach. I quickly dress and call my mom to come and pick me up. _

_As I am walking down the stairs I run into Derek's mother. "Josh, what were you doing in our room?" she asks, seeing the direction I've come from._

"_Oh, I'm sorry about that Mrs Morton, I had a little too much to eat last night and I was feeling sick, so Derek put me to bed in your room" I say._

"_That was nice of him. We didn't get in until late last night; both Derek's father and I were at work. Did Aaron take good care of you?" she asks._

"_Derek's brother, we asked him to keep an eye on you guys. You didn't think we'd leave a bunch of 11, 12 and 13 year olds alone with just our 13 year old son did you?" she says._

_I don't mention that we didn't see Aaron all night, that their son raped me in their bedroom last night, and that he drugged my lemonade. _

"_No of course not. Aaron was great" I lie, not sure why I'm lying for the guy who hurt me, but not wanting to tell her what her son did to me either. I'm too ashamed and embarrassed to tell anyone what happened last night. _

"_Did you have a good time last night? Are you okay? You look a little banged up" she says._

"_I had a great time, just got knocked around a little playing football, that's all" I say._

"_Well I think they're all having breakfast downstairs if you want to join them" Mrs Morton says._

"_That's okay Mrs Morton, my mom's coming to pick me up soon" I say. _

"_Well I hope you had a good time" she says._

"_Oh I think you can safely say I'm never going to forget it" I say. She smiles, not realising exactly why I'll never forget the sleepover from hell. I walk pass Mrs Morton, grab my stuff from the living room, and go to wait on the front step for my mom, avoiding Derek and all of the boys who I thought were my friends as much as humanly possible. _

_My mom finally pulls up outside the house about half an hour after I expected her to arrive._

"_Where were you, I've been waiting for you for ages" I say._

"_I'm sorry honey, the principal called an emergency meeting at school" she says. _

"_On Saturday?" I ask._

"_That's why it's called an emergency meeting. What happened to you honey? You're a mess" she says. She picks up my left wrist, the one that Derek hurt and I wince in pain._

"_Who did this to you?" she asks._

"_We were playing football Mom and I got a little banged up" I say._

"_Since when do you like football?" she asks._

"_The other kids do, I was just going along with them" I say. _

"_Well we'd better stop at the hospital on the way home, your wrist looks like it could be broken" she says. _

"_It's fine, I don't need to go to the hospital. It really doesn't hurt that much" I say, not wanting to go to the hospital, and have some doctor probing me about how I really got the injury. I can tell my mom doesn't believe me, and I don't really want to go to the hospital and have the doctor figure out how I really got hurt. _

"_If you really don't need to go to the hospital, then move your wrist without wincing and then I'll take you home" she says. _

_I do try to move my wrist, but I can't do it without wincing, it's too painful. _

"_Right I'm taking you to the hospital and there will be no protests, I'm not letting my son walk around with a possibly broken wrist and not do anything about it" she says. _

_I spend the rest of the car journey to the hospital staring out the window, and not talking to my mom, hoping and praying that the doctor doesn't work out what really happened to me because there's no way that I'm going to tell anyone._

_End of flashback_

**I wake up completely soaked in sweat. I can never sleep fully through the night without having nightmares about that night. I never told anyone about it, I didn't think anyone would believe me, after all you don't exactly hear of guys being raped very often. Girls, sure, but guys, no, according to the media, we're the evil rapists; we can't possibly be a victim. I know that I'm not going to get back to sleep now, so I walk down the hallway to the bathroom. I strip my clothes off and jump in the shower, washing myself all over with soap. It's become kind of an obsession of mine over the past few years; I spend a lot of time cleaning myself. I guess it's probably to do with what Derek did to me; I constantly have to try to clean myself because I always feel dirty. I'm in the shower for about an hour, trying to wash the sweat off myself. When I get out of the shower, the sweat is gone, but I still feel disgusting. I spent a lot of time afterward trying to work out why Derek did what he did to me, and I came to the conclusion that he must have done it because I'm a bad person, so I deserved what he did to me, and so I became the person that he thought I was. I don't want to be like this, I was a nice person before all this happened to me, I was quiet, but fun to be around, and friendly. Now I hang out with the bad kids at school, and I get angry at people, and I do all sorts of things that I shouldn't. I hate this person, I hate myself, but I can't find a way to get back to who I was before. Derek broke something inside of me and I'm not sure how to fix it. **

**I quickly dry myself off, and then walk back into my room, to get changed. It's still the middle of the night, but I figure if I'm not going to get back to sleep then I may as well get dressed. I pull on a pair of jeans, a red tank top, my Alexander McQueen biker jacket, my black Timberland boots and my black snapback cap and a pair of fingerless gloves. I turn the light on in my room, and take my copy of Beautiful Creatures off my bookshelf. I sit down on my bed and start to read. I love Beautiful Creatures, and I feel like I relate to Ethan a lot. That's one thing that hasn't changed since the incident with Derek happened, I still love to read. I like to escape to different worlds, away from my life and into the lives of other people.**

**The hours seem to fly by as I am reading, and by the time my mother calls me for breakfast, I have started on Beautiful Darkness, having finished Beautiful Creatures already. I ignore her, wanting to finish the chapter that I'm reading. **

"**JOSHUA PUCKERMAN! GET DOWNSTAIRS NOW &amp; BRING YOUR SISTER WITH YOU!" my mother calls. **

**I groan, but since my mom never yells unless she's really mad, I decide to put my book down and walk down the hall to Leigh's room. I knock on the door.**

"**Leigh! Mom wants us downstairs for breakfast" I say. I hear her talking to someone, and fumbling around for her clothes. Curious as to who she's talking to, I fling the door open, to find my sister, half naked, standing with a shirtless guy, who seems vaguely familiar. It takes me a few minutes to work out who he is.**

"**Niko?" I ask. **

"**Okay, I'm going to go" he says. My sister throws him his shirt, and he pulls it on, before climbing out of the window. **

"**What the hell?" I ask.**

"**Look Josh, you can't tell Mom and Dad about Niko" she says.**

"**I was right, you really do have a secret boyfriend" I say. **

"**Yes, I have a secret boyfriend, emphasis on the secret" she says. **

"**Well I might just have to tell mom and dad….unless….." I say.**

"**Unless what?" she asks. **

"**You tell me where my cigarettes are. Mom confiscated them, and I need them back" I say.**

"**You realise that smoking is terrible for you right?" she asks.**

"**No cigarettes; and I will tell mom and dad about your secret boyfriend" I say. **

"**Fine, your cigarettes are in the top drawer of mom's dresser. Happy?" she says. **

"**Ecstatic, thank you. Your secret boyfriend will remain secret until you decide to reveal his existence to our parents" I say.**

"**Thank you" she replies. **

"**So how long have you been going out with Dancer boy?" I ask.**

"**Since last year" she says.**

"**A whole year, wow big sis, I'm impressed that you haven't told Dad yet, since you tell him everything" I say.**

"**I'm just as capable of keeping a secret as you are, I wouldn't be surprised if you have a secret boyfriend too given how much you sneak out of here" she says.**

"**I do not have a secret boyfriend, and what my friends and I do outside of school is none of your business" I say.**

"**Okay JR, I was just saying that you're not really one to talk about keeping secrets" she says. She's right of course, even more than she knows. **

"**Does Dancer boy treat you right? Because if he doesn't then I will have to beat him up" I say. **

"**He's great, honestly. He treats me with kindness and respect and he's a really great guy" she says. **

"**Good. For what it's worth Leigh, I don't think Dad would be mad that you're dating Niko, he likes Niko. He'll be mad that you kept it from him, but he'll get over it. You're daddy's little girl, you can do no wrong" I say. **

"**Thanks Josh" I say hugging him. **

"**So you're not going to tell anyone?" she confirms.**

"**A deal's a deal, you told me where my cigarettes are, I won't tell anyone about your dancer boy" I say.**

"**Are you seriously going to call him dancer boy? I'm not sure he'd like that, and I know you said you'd beat him up if he didn't respect me, but he'd just as likely beat you up if he heard you calling him that" she says.**

"**Which is why I'm never going to say it to his face" I say, making her laugh.**

"**We'd better go downstairs" she says. We both walk out of her room and she heads downstairs, whilst I go into Mom and Dad's room and get my cigarettes out of her drawer, before heading downstairs too. **

**Mom places a plate of pancakes in front of each of us. "So Quinn told me that you auditioned for Glee Club Leigh?" she says.**

"**Yeah I did, Aunt Quinn and Aunt Rachel want me to help choreograph some of our routines after they saw the routine I did with my audition song" she says.**

"**What about you Josh? Are you going to join Glee?" Mom asks.**

"**No way, my friends would never let me live that down. I get enough stick for the fact that I'm in Poetry Club, without adding Glee Club to that too" I say.**

"**But you'd like it, you love to sing and dance almost as much as your sister does" she says.**

"**But I said I'm not going to do it Mom, so can we just stop talking about it and leave it there!" I yell. **

"**Marley, just leave him be, if he doesn't want to join Glee Club then he's under no obligation to" Dad says.**

"**Are you not going to tell him off for talking to me like that?" Mom asks.**

"**Junior, apologise for yelling at your mother" he says. **

"**Sorry, Mom" I say, reluctantly. **

"**So how is school going Josh?" she asks.**

"**The same as it was going yesterday, school doesn't really change much Mom" I say. After that, I don't really talk much, Leigh chatters on and on about school and dance, and the photographs that she's been taking in photography club. There's not exactly much I can say about what I do at school, I can't tell my parents that I skip classes and smoke under the bleachers with my friends. I can't tell them about the poetry I write, because most of my poems are about my feelings about Derek, and about how much I hate myself. **

"**Are you going over to the studio today Leigh?" Dad asks her. **

"**Yeah, I've got to do ballet practice before school" she says.**

"**Can you drop your brother off at school first? McKinley's not exactly on route to my school" Mom says.**

"**But Mom, school doesn't start until 8.30 and it's only 7.30 now" I complain.**

"**Plus, if I drop Josh off at school then I won't be able to get as much practice in and there's not long until the exam now, so I need to get in as much practice as I can. Can't one of you take him?" Leigh asks.**

"**I can take him" Dad says. **

"**Thanks Dad" I say. I much prefer car rides with Dad than with Mom; Mom tries to force me to talk, whereas Dad just lets me be. Until the end of breakfast we all sit quietly in an awkward silence, and as soon as Leigh's finished, she rushes back upstairs to get her stuff, before leaving for the dance studio.**

"**So Junior, when do you want to leave?" Dad asks. **

"**There's another 45 minutes until school starts, and it only takes 15 minutes to get there" I say.**

"**Okay, we'll leave at 8.15 then. Make sure you're ready though, I have a class that starts at 9 and if I don't get you to school until 8.30, then I won't be able to get to the studio on time" he says. I am walking up the stairs when I overhear Mom and Dad talking, and wanting to know if they are talking about me.**

"**Aren't you worried about him?" Mom asks.**

"**You know I am Marley, but he's probably just going through a phase, all kids go through the mean and moody stage during their teenage years" Dad says.**

"**But he used to be such a nice kid and then suddenly out of nowhere, he's mouthing off to me, he's sneaking off in the middle of the night, he's smoking, he's skipping class Finn told me, do you blame me for being worried?" she asks.**

"**No, but I really don't think he's bad Marls, he's just an insecure kid who's using the bad boy thing as an act. Trust me, I know, I did it for years" he says. **

"**I just don't want him falling in with the wrong crowd, Leigh's told me about the kids he hangs around with, and they sound like a scary bunch. I don't want him falling into drugs or alcohol or anything like that" Mom says. **

"**He won't Marley, he's a sensible kid" Dad says.**

"**He already smokes" she points out. **

"**But in the scheme of things, he could be doing much worse things than smoking" he says.**

"**I'm just worried about him. He reminds me too much of you sometimes" she says.**

"**Why is that a bad thing? Him reminding you of me?" Dad says with a slight undertone of anger in his voice. **

"**I didn't mean it like that. I meant he reminds me of the guy you were when we met in high school, the angry, rebellious kid that you were then and it scares me, that's all" she says.**

"**He'll grow out of it Marley, I'm sure. He's a sweet kid underneath, I know he is" I say.**

"**I'm not so sure" she says. **

"**He is Marley, just give him a chance. He's 14, he's just taking some time and figuring out who he is" Dad says. **

"**What if I don't like who he ends up becoming?" she asks.**

"**You will, Marley, he's your son" Dad says. I've heard enough, I don't like them talking about me like this, behind my back. I kick the door hard, and then run back upstairs to my bedroom. My mom got me a punching bag as a way of taking my anger out on something safely, so I start to throw punches at it. It takes about fifteen minutes of punching the bag before I feel calmer, and then I sit back on my bed, continuing to read Beautiful Darkness until my dad calls me to go to school. **

**I get into the passenger side of my dad's Land Rover, and neither of us speaks for the first few minutes of our drive to school.**

"**Are we going to talk about the conversation you overheard this morning, Junior?" Dad asks me.**

"**What's to say? Mom hates me and you think I'll grow out of my personality" I say. **

"**Your mom didn't mean that, and as for what I said, I know that this isn't you Josh. You're not a troublemaker, you're not mean, you're not….." he says.**

"**You?" I suggest filling in the blank. "Is there anything wrong with being like you?" I ask.**

"**No, there's nothing wrong with that, but I don't want you to have my bad traits, I want you to have my good traits, the dancing, the musical ability, those things, not the bad boy traits" he says.**

"**What if I like who I am now?" I ask.**

"**I think we both know that you don't. What happened to the sweet, shy, eleven year old who used to spend all of his time reading, and who loved his mom?" he asks.**

"**He grew up" I snap. I want to be that kid again I do, but I can't find my way back there. That kid was the kid that got raped, so if being the guy I am now stops that from happening, then I would rather be me as I am now. **

"**I don't believe that. I think there's something bigger going on here, and I want you to tell me what it is" he says.**

"**Well too bad because I don't want to. Besides aside from hanging out with a different crowd, I still like the same stuff, I still read, I still write poetry, I still sing, I still dance, I still like the same TV shows, so I really don't see what the problem is here" I say.**

"**The problem is that you smoke, you sneak out of the house, you disrespect your mother, you skip classes, and you get into fights, and that attitude cannot keep going" he says.**

"**But you said this morning that it was just a phase and I would grow out of it" I say.**

"**I meant what I said, but I also mean this, I don't want you getting kicked out of school for this behaviour" he says.**

"**It's not like school even matters for me, I want to be an actor, and you don't need a degree for that" I say.**

"**It's important to me and your mother that you finish high school" he says.**

"**And what are you going to do if I do get into fights or disrespect mom, or skip classes or sneak out of the house?" I ask.**

"**Then there will be serious repercussions Joshua and don't think I don't mean that because I do" he says.**

**My dad keeps asking me questions the rest of the way to school, but I refuse to answer. I've learned over the years that the only person you can trust with your secrets is yourself.**

"**You know you can tell me anything right Josh?" Dad asks me as we pull into the school parking lot. **

"**I know Dad" I say, even though I know that's a lie. **

"**How about I see if your mom will take Leigh out tonight and you and I can have a guy's night?" he asks.**

"**Can this guy's night include watching America's Next Top Model?" I ask.**

"**Does it have to?" Dad asks sighing.**

"**Pretty please?" I ask. **

"**Fine, America's Next Top Model it is. That must be the strangest guy's night ever" he says.**

"**We could always watch a James Bond Movie instead, if you'd prefer that" I say. **

"**How about we do America's Next Top Model then a Bond Movie? I could order a pizza for us" he says.**

"**NO!" I scream.**

"**What's wrong Junior?" he asks, confused at my sudden outburst. I've never been able to drink Lemonade or eat pizza, or ice cream, or popcorn or any of the things we ate that night at Derek's house, because it reminds me of that night. **

"**Nothing" I say, shaking my head. **

"**Are you sure?" he asks.**

"**Yes I'm fine. Look could we just order Chinese food instead, I really don't feel like pizza" I say.**

"**Sure, okay, Junior" he says. I give him a hug and say goodbye, before walking over to the bleachers where all my friends are hanging out. The stoners and other addicts hang out here as well, but they take one set of bleachers whilst we take another. **

"**Smoke?" my friend Jason offers me, but I take my own packet out of my pocket and wave them in the air.**

"**How did you manage to get those off your mom?" he asks.**

"**Let's just say my sister and I made a deal and she told me where they were" I say.**

"**What did you have to do in exchange?" he asks.**

"**Now that my friend is a secret" I say, taking my lighter out of my pocket. **

"**Your mom sounds like such a tight ass dude" one of my other friends Laurie says. **

"**She's a little uptight, seems to think that you guys are a bad influence on me" I say. **

"**Does she not get that's the point?" Jason asks and we all laugh, and then take a drag of our cigarettes. **

"**So any of you want to go out tonight? We could grab our fake ID's and head out to a bar?" Laurie says.**

"**I have plans with my Dad, we haven't spent a night just the two of us in ages" I say.**

"**Okay so Puckerman's out, what about the rest of you?" Jason asks. Some of the guys agree, but a couple of them are still grounded from the last time we went out together. We stand there smoking, even after the buzzer that signals lessons goes. None of us tend to show up for class very often, since the whole attending class thing doesn't go with the rebel attitude. I never used to be like this, I used to like going to school but the old attitude doesn't go with the new me. **

**We stand there under the bleachers for about an hour, chatting about the movies we've seen recently, and the TV shows that we've enjoyed watching in the past week, whilst puffing through several cigarettes each. **

"**Guys" Laurie comes running over to us, puffing as he's out of breath (and not very fit since he's a fifteen-a-day smoker). I hadn't even noticed that he'd gone.**

"**What's up?" I ask.**

"**Mrs Lynn, she's doing the rounds and she's coming over here, we have to hide" he says. We all quickly put out our cigarettes and hide under the bleachers. The click of Mrs Lynn's heels gets closer and we pack tighter together. It's no use though, as soon as she comes near the bleachers, she notices us. I swear she's got like super human vision or something, there's nothing she doesn't miss.**

"**Next time, pick a better hiding place boys" she says, dragging each of us out by the collars of our shirts.**

"**How did you know we were here?" I ask.**

"**Seriously? You don't think after working at this school for so long that I don't know where the kids sneak off to skip class and have a smoke?" she says. **

"**We were hoping not" Laurie says. **

"**And you probably need to try and be a more subtle lookout. Hand them over" she says. **

"**Hand what over?" I ask, feigning innocence.**

"**Your cigarettes, unless those smoking stubs are from something else, I'd say it's a safe bet you have them" she says.**

**I can't believe I only just got back my fags from my mom and now I have to hand them in all over again. I reluctantly hand over the packet from my jacket pocket, and the rest of my friends follow suit.**

"**Come on you lot, it looks like I'm going to have to take you to Principal Hudson's office, and he is not going to be happy to see the six of you again" she says. We follow her inside and down the hall to Uncle Finn's office. She knocks on the door.**

"**Come in" he calls.**

"**Finn, I have your favourite six people with me, I caught them skipping class and smoking again" she says. **

**He groans and then says "Send them in". She steps aside, and we walk into his office, some of us slouching into the chairs on the other side of his desk, the rest of us standing.**

"**Why is it always you six? I've seen the six of you more in the past week than most of the seniors in this school over the past four years that they've been here" he says.**

"**I guess we're just not very good at not getting caught" Jason says.**

"**Well frankly I am sick of seeing you repeatedly for the same offences. Laurie, Jason, Adam, Marshall and Carl, I've been seeing the five of you almost every day since you started here last year for skipping classes, and this is your last chance. The next time I see the five of you in here for the same offence you will all be up for expulsion. The same rules apply to you as to everyone else and whether you like it or not, you are required to be here until you turn 18. You will all be given a week's suspension and two weeks' worth of after school detentions after that. Now please leave and call your parents to pick you up" he says, gesturing for my five friends to leave.**

"**What about me?" I ask, when they walk out of the door.**

"**Well Josh, I'm hesitant to give you as severe a punishment, given the fact that you've only been here for just over a week, but I have to say that I'm worried. I don't think I've ever seen a freshman as much in their first week as I have seen you. You seem to have fallen in with the wrong crowd but I don't believe that you're a bad kid. Now I can't give you less after school detention than your friends, that would be unfair, so you will get two weeks of after school detention also, starting next Tuesday, but instead of the suspension, I am going to require that you join Glee Club for the next year" he says.**

"**Are you sure I can't just take the suspension? Joining glee club is going to do nothing for my cred" I say. **

"**I would think very carefully about what you say next Mr Puckerman and remember that a suspension would go on your permanent record" Uncle Finn says.**

"**Fine, I'll join the loser club" I say.**

"**Excellent. I have informed your teacher that you will be a little late to your next lesson, so you can go over to the auditorium and audition now" he says.**

"**Like right now?" I ask.**

"**Yes, now get a move on before I change my mind and decide to be less lenient on you" he says. I decide that now is not the right time to point out that two weeks of after school detention is not exactly lenient, and leave his office before I say something that may dig me into an even bigger hole. **

**I walk out of Finn's office and straight over to the auditorium. There's no one onstage when I go over there (why would there be when everyone's still in lessons?) so I just walk straight on.**

"**Josh, I wasn't expecting to see you today" Aunt Quinn (my actual real Aunt) says. **

"**I wasn't planning on auditioning but Uncle Finn doesn't take too kindly to people skipping class. This is my punishment" I say.**

"**What are you going to be singing?" Aunt Rachel asks. **

"**I'll be singing You and I (Nobody In The World) by John Legend" I say. **

"**That sounds great Josh, let's hear it" Aunt Quinn says.**

**I nod to the girl sitting behind the piano, to signal that she can start. She starts to play, and then I start to sing.**

_Josh:_

_You fix your make up, just so_

_Guess you don't know, that you're beautiful_

_Try on every dress you own_

_You were fine in my eyes half an hour ago_

_And if your mirror won't make it any clearer I'll_

_Be the one to let you know_

_Out of all the girls_

_You're my one and only girl_

_Ain't nobody in the world tonight_

_All of the stars, you make them shine like they were ours_

_Ain't nobody in the world but you and I_

_You and I_

_Ain't nobody in the world but you_

_You stop the room when we walk in_

_Spotlight's on everybody's staring_

_Tell all of these boys they're wasting their time_

_Stop standing in line, cause you're all mine_

_And this evening I won't let the feeling die_

_I never wanna leave your side_

_Out of all of the girls_

_You're my one and only girl_

_Ain't nobody in the world tonight_

_All of the stars you make them shine like they were ours_

_Ain't nobody in the world but you and I_

_You and I_

_Ain't nobody in the world_

_You keep wondering if you're what I'm wanting_

_You don't even have to try_

_You don't have to try_

_Don't try_

_Don't try_

_You don't have to try_

_Out of all the girls_

_You're my one and only girl_

_Ain't nobody in the world tonight_

_All of the stars, they don't shine brighter than you are_

_Ain't nobody in the world but you and I_

_You and I_

_You and I_

_Nobody in the world tonight_

_Ain't nobody in the world but you and I_

"**So, I guess since this is my punishment I kind of have to be in" I say.**

"**Yes you do, but we would have accepted you anyway. You have a great voice, really soulful. You definitely picked a song that highlighted your voice well" Aunt Quinn says. **

"**Was the song for any special guy in particular?" Aunt Rachel asks. It's pretty common knowledge that I'm gay, I don't try to hide it. It's the one part of me that I can't deny, even after the rape. **

"**No" I say. It's completely truthful; I have no one special in my life. I kind of envy Leigh and Niko that, the only sort of experience of a relationship I've had was violent, not one I wanted and he certainly didn't love me. **

"**Well you sure sing about it convincingly" Aunt Quinn says. I guess it's probably because I imagine that's what being in love with someone is like, rather than having experienced it myself.**

"**If that's all, I think I'll go now" I say. **

"**Yes we're done here. We'll see you at the rehearsal on Friday at four in the choir room, a full list of the glee club will be posted then as well, but that's just so everyone can see who all the other members are" Aunt Rachel says.**

"**I guess I'll see you then. Goodbye Aunt Quinn, Aunt Rachel" I say. I walk out of the auditorium and to my locker, fetching the books for my next class, before walking there. **

**The rest of the day goes pretty slowly, since I actually go to all my classes, rather than skipping half of them as I usually do. By the time the final buzzer of the day goes, signalling the end of school, I can't wait to get out of there. I run to my locker, grabbing the books I need for homework and then race out of school, waiting on the steps for my dad to pick me up. A hand grabs me from behind, and pulls me off the steps and into the bush. I scream when I look up at the face and see the face of the boy that raped me three years ago, Derek.**

"**Shush, I really don't need you screaming and alerting everyone to the fact that I'm here" he says. **

"**What the hell do you want that you haven't taken from me already?" I ask. **

"**I want what I've always wanted. Control over you" he says.**

"**I've done everything you've ever asked of me. I've been your sex toy and I've been your punching bag, and I am done" I say.**

**He whips out a knife and holds it to my throat. "You are done, when I say you're done and we are not done yet" he says. **

"**So what do you want this time?" I ask.**

"**I want you to date me" he says. **

"**What the hell?" I ask.**

"**You heard me. Date me or I will kill you" he says.**

"**And if I just tell someone that you're threatening me?" I ask.**

"**Then I will still kill you. You really don't have any other option" he says. **

"**I'll do whatever you want, just leave me alone, please" I say. He grabs my collar, and forces me to kiss him. **

"**Now I think you owe me an afternoon of fun" he says.**

"**I can't, my dad's coming to pick me up soon" I say. **

**He digs his knife into my neck a little deeper, causing a speck of blood to rise. **

"**Who owns you?" he asks. **

"**You do" I whisper. **

"**Damn straight, now let's go" he says, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards his car. I follow numbly, just wanting to do whatever it takes to get him to leave me alone. I thought one day it might happen, but he always wants more from me, and I'm not sure how much more I have to give.**

_Raina's POV_

_I wake up very early in the morning, around five am. I like to get up early, as I enjoy going out to sketch early in the morning. It gives me some alone time before school, and I just find that time in the morning so peaceful, when there's no one around and it feels like just me and the sky. I take a quick shower, and then dress in a peach strappy cami top, a pair of dark red jeggings, my dark red blazer, my light brown boots, my red heart locket necklace, and my music note charm bracelet. I quietly walk downstairs, and then go to the garage to get out my bike. I then cycle from my house to Schnoover Park. It takes a while, but that's okay since I have a while before school anyway. I sit under a tree facing the lake, and start to sketch. As I do so I hum a tune, and this humming eventually turns into a song._

**Raina:**

**I see trees of green, **

**Red roses too.**

**I see them bloom,**

**For me and you.**

**And I think to myself,**

**What a wonderful world.**

**I see skies of blue,**

**And clouds of white.**

**The bright blessed day,**

**The dark sacred night.**

**And I think to myself,**

**What a wonderful world.**

**The colours of the rainbow,**

**So pretty in the sky. **

**Are also on the faces,**

**Of people going by,**

**I see friends shaking hands.**

**Saying, "How do you do?"**

**They're really saying**

"**I love you". **

**I hear babies cry, **

**I watch them grow,**

**They'll learn much more, **

**Than I'll ever know.**

**And I think to myself**

**What a wonderful world.**

**Yes, I think to myself,**

**What a wonderful world.**

**Oh yeah**

_I smile and for the next little while, I just sit there sketching happily and singing as I go. This is my favourite part of the day, it's so quiet, just a nice bit of me time before the craziness of the school day. Most people would probably hate just sitting in silence by themselves, but I actually enjoy my alone time. I don't always draw when I come out here, in fact I don't always come out here, sometimes I go to other places. I paint sometimes too, and read, but wherever I go I always go somewhere I can be outside. I love the outdoors, the freedom, the peacefulness, everything about it. I sit there for about an hour, sketching, and singing occasionally too. My sketch is about half complete by the time I decide I need to pack up and head home. I don't want to, I'd rather stay out here and draw some more, but if I don't head back soon then my mom will get worried. _

_When I get back home Mom and Dad are sitting around the kitchen table eating their breakfast._

"_Hey Mom, Dad" I say as I walk into the kitchen. _

"_Hi sweetheart. Did you have a good time? Where did you go this morning?" Mom asks._

"_Just down to Schnoover Lake. I had a great time, thanks, I got some good sketching done" I say. She places a bowl of fruit salad in front of me, my usual breakfast and I start to eat._

"_So have you met any nice boys at school yet honey?" Mom asks._

"_No, they're all idiots" I say. I don't mention that the main reason why I haven't found a nice boy is because I'm not interested in boys, I like girls. I still haven't come out to my parents yet, even though I've known I was a lesbian since I was thirteen. It's just difficult, I mean I know they have gay friends and everything, but I can't be certain how they'll react if I tell them that I'm gay. Besides, I don't want to be labelled, as soon as you come out, you automatically become "that gay kid" and I don't want that. I just want to be me. _

"_I'm sure you'll find someone nice eventually" Mom says._

"_Maybe. So how's your album going Mom?" I ask, desperate to get the subject off me and my love life (or lack thereof really, it's not like I've ever been in a relationship, or even been kissed). _

"_It's going well Ray, thanks. We've laid down a couple of tracks, but we've still got a couple more to work on before the album's complete. The problem is the producer just doesn't get the sound I'm going for at all. I've got five tracks, and they're good tracks, but they don't quite have the right sound" she say just doesn't get the sound I'm going for at all. I've got five tracks, and they're good tracks, but they don't quite have the right sound" she says._

"_You should ask Jonah if he'd help, he's dying to get some producing experience and he loves mixing beats and all that stuff" I say._

"_We have a bring your son to work day coming up soon, so I might just think about that, thanks Ray" she says._

"_No problem. How's work going for you Dad?" I ask._

"_Alright, alright, alright" he says in his best Matthew McConaughey voice, making me laugh. _

"_How's school going Ray?" Mom asks me. _

"_It's going good so far, but it is only the second week back, so you never know" I say._

"_I'm sure you'll be fine. I'm always more worried about how Jonah's getting on in school than you" she says._

"_Well if it makes you feel better, it's the second week of school and he hasn't got into trouble yet" I say._

"_This must be some kind of record" Dad says._

"_Let's see if it sticks first" Mom replies. _

"_Unlikely, he's probably just planning his next big stunt" I say. We continue to talk for the next half an hour or so, Mom and Dad asking me questions about my art work, the latest book I've been reading, and what I'm going to do for my audition song for Glee. After this my mom calls for Jonah, as she does every morning at 7. If Mom didn't wake him up, he'd probably never get to school, that's how much he enjoys his lie ins. 20 minutes later, Jonah appears._

"_Morning sleepyhead" I say._

"_Mock you all want; studies show that teenagers need more sleep" he says._

"_Do these studies also show that teenagers should go to bed at midnight every night?" I ask innocently, but with my eyes glimmering with the hint of a joke._

"_Yeah, yeah" he says, sitting down at the table. Mom fills a bowl with Coco pops for him and then places it on the table in front of him, allowing him to pour his own milk. _

"_So a little birdie told me that someone joined Glee Club yesterday. What changed?" Mom asks Jonah._

"_Ooh I bet I know" I say smirking. Jonah kicks me under the table, warning me not to say anything, but it is far too fun to annoy him._

"_Kennedy asked me to, and I didn't want to disappoint her" he says._

"_Well that's sweet of you" Mom says._

"_You're so in love with her" I say._

"_Am not!" he complains._

"_You are. I'm guessing the broken hand had something to do with her?" I ask._

"_It did not, I hurt it in basketball" he says._

"_You didn't have basketball yesterday" I say._

"_Shut up Ray" he mutters to me._

"_It's alright Jonah, we already knew you liked Kennedy" Dad says._

"_And you didn't tell me?" he asks._

"_Wait you didn't know? But it's so obvious" I say._

"_How exactly?" he asks._

"_Boys are so dense. She's been the only girl in your life aside from me and mom that you've had a constant relationship, and you'll do anything for her including joining Glee even though you know it won't help your popularity, and the only reason that either of those things would happen is because you're in love with her" I say._

"_How would you know? It's not like you've ever had a boyfriend" he says. _

_That hits hard in more ways than one, considering that for starters, he's right, I've never had a relationship, for seconds, I'm not looking for a boyfriend because I'm a lesbian._

"_I'm sorry Ray that was harsh" he apologises._

"_You're right, but that doesn't stop what I said from being true. Why don't you just ask her out?" I say._

"_Because she doesn't like me like that, I overheard her talking to her Mom and Aunt Quinn about it. She said she just saw me as a brother, I mean when they talked to me about it, I said it would be like dating my sister, but then I overheard her saying that she didn't like me in that way either and it annoyed me for some reason, so I punched the wall and that's how I really broke my hand, okay?" he says._

"_There's nothing wrong with liking her, she's a great girl, and you don't need to be embarrassed" I say._

"_I'm not" he replies. "But it's not as if it's going to go anywhere if she doesn't like me" he says. _

"_She likes you, trust me" I say._

"_But she said she didn't have feelings for me?" he asks, confused._

"_Okay, I may be a relationship virgin, but you don't have to have been in a relationship to know that what girls say and what girls mean are two entirely different things" I say._

"_So what does she mean, then?" he asks._

"_She means that she likes you but that she doesn't want to ruin your friendship so she's going to deny that she likes you, because admitting that she likes you means that she has to open herself up to the possibility of being heartbroken by you and she doesn't want to do that" I say._

"_How do you get all of that out of one sentence?" he asks._

"_It's a girl thing Jo" Mom says. _

"_So what do I do?" he asks._

"_Talk to her about it" I say._

"_But what if she completely shoots me down?" he asks._

"_If you like her enough, then you should be willing to take that risk" I say. Having finished my fruit salad, I say goodbye to Mom, Dad and Jonah, before going upstairs to grab my bag. Once I've got my bag, I walk back downstairs and out the door, grabbing my bike from where I left it on the lawn earlier this morning. It doesn't take long for me to cycle to school; we only live about fifteen minutes away. I head to the library as when I arrive at school there is still a little time before lessons start. I take out Divergent, which is our class's assigned book for English this semester. It's an okay book, but it's not really my favourite, I'm not all that keen on Dystopians, I much prefer mystery books, I like to see if I can work out the mystery before the characters in the books, but only if it's difficult to work out, if it's easy, then I don't feel like I've accomplished anything. _

_When the buzzer goes, I head back to my locker and grab my spare clothes, sketchbook and paints for Art class, as I take Art as one of my electives. I then walk over to the Art classroom which fortunately for me, is not that far from my locker. The morning passes amazingly quickly as I have both Art and English, my two favourite classes and before I know it, the buzzer goes for break. _

_I decide to head over to the auditorium for my glee audition at break, since I have a free period after, so it doesn't matter if there are lots of people auditioning and I have to wait a while. I shouldn't have worried, only Carly Hudson is auditioning. She's doing the cool thing with the cups like we did in the canteen yesterday. Carly and I don't really speak much, although I'm not sure why, she seems like the sort of person that I would be friends with. After Carly finishes and her mom and Aunt Quinn talk to her for a little bit, she leaves the stage and I walk on._

"_Hi, Aunt Rachel, Aunt Quinn" I say._

"_Hello Raina, I was wondering when you'd be here" Aunt Rachel says._

"_I'd never miss out on joining Glee Club, I've wanted to be in one ever since Mom told me all the stories about Glee from when she was here" I say. _

"_What are you going to sing?" Aunt Quinn asks._

"_People Help The People by Birdy" I say._

"_Beautiful choice, let's hear it" Aunt Rachel says._

_I nod to the piano player, and she starts to play as I start to sing._

**Raina:**

**God knows what is hiding in those weak and drunken hearts**

**Guess he kissed the girls and made them cry**

**Those hard faced queens of misadventure**

**God knows what is hiding in those weak and sunken lives**

**Fiery throngs of muted angels**

**Giving love but getting nothing back, oh**

**People help the people**

**And if you're homesick**

**Give me your hand and I'll hold it**

**People help the people**

**And nothing will drag you down**

**Oh and if I had a brain,**

**Oh and if I had a brain**

**I'd be cold as a stone and rich as a fool**

**That turned all those good hearts away**

**God knows what is hiding in this world of little consequence**

**Behind the tears, inside the lies**

**A thousand slowly dying sunsets**

**God knows what is hiding in those weak and drunken hearts**

**Guess the loneliness came knocking**

**No one needs to be alone, oh singin'**

**People help the people**

**And if you're homesick**

**Give me your hand and I'll hold it**

**People help the people**

**Nothing will drag you down**

**Oh and if I had a brain,**

**Oh and if I had a brain**

**I'd be cold as a stone and rich as a fool**

**That turned all the good hearts away**

**Nah naah nah nah naaaaahhhhhh oooouuuu**

**Nah naah nah nah naaaaahhhhhh oooouuuu**

**People help the people**

**And if you're homesick,**

**Give me your hand and I'll hold it**

**People help the people**

**Nothing will drag you down**

**Oh and if I had a brain,**

**Oh and if I had a brain**

**I'd be cold as a stone and rich as a fool**

**That turned all those good hearts away**

"_Your voice is just as pretty as I remembered it was; I haven't heard you sing in a while" Aunt Rachel says._

"_Thank you" I say. _

"_You're in Raina. We're putting up a full list on Friday, but that's really just so everyone can see who else is in. The first rehearsal will be on Friday at four in the choir room. Don't be late" Aunt Quinn says. _

"_I won't be. I'm really looking forward to it" I say._

"_Well you're going to be a great addition to the Glee Club, Raina" Aunt Rachel says._

"_Thanks" I say, smiling. I say goodbye to both Aunt Quinn and Aunt Rachel before heading out of the auditorium. As it's my free period, I head over to my locker, grab my bag and then walk over to the library. When I get there, I take a seat in the comfy bean bag chairs and start to read more of Divergent. _

"_How's the book?" a voice asks from next to me. I hadn't noticed anyone coming to sit next to me, but maybe that's just because I kind of zone everything out when I read. _

"_It's okay, not really my choice of book though" I say._

"_School assignment?" she asks._

"_Yeah, our assigned read for English this semester. Dystopian Fiction" I say._

"_I'd rather have yours than mine" she says._

"_What's yours?" I ask._

"_John Green books, our class got assigned The Fault In Our Stars. I just find that his writing is so overrated" she says._

"_Me too, but then I've never been much for that kind of book, I much prefer mysteries" I say._

"_What kind of mystery? General crime, murder mystery, missing persons?" she asks._

"_Any kind, I just like to see if I can work out the mystery before the characters. I worked out who A was way before any of the characters in Pretty Little Liars did" I say._

"_Which A? Mona, Ali or Nick?" she asks._

"_You've read them?" I ask._

"_All of them, I was obsessed with the TV show when I was younger, and so I read the books. So which one was it you worked out?" she says._

"_All of them, the TV show made it a lot harder. Sorry, I've been talking to you for ages, and I never asked you your name" I say._

"_Sydney Lawson, and you?" she asks._

"_Raina Evans" I reply. "So what books do you like then?" I ask._

"_I read mostly fantasy stuff, I was obsessed with Harry Potter when I was a kid, and I was so disappointed when I didn't get my letter to Hogwarts when I was eleven" she says._

"_Weren't we all?" I ask, making her laugh. _

"_My mum had to take me out for a huge ice cream sundae on my eleventh birthday to stop me crying about not getting my Hogwarts letter" she says._

"_That's so cute. So what do you like about fantasy?" I ask._

"_Sometimes I think that fantasy is better than reality" she says, winking. _

"_You might be right there" I reply. "So when did you move from England?" I ask._

"_I moved out here when I was thirteen, my dad got a new job, in Columbus" she says._

"_Where did you live before?" I ask._

"_London" she says._

"_Do you miss it?" I ask._

"_Yeah, a lot. I mean, it's nice enough here and everything, but you can't quite match the energy in London" she says._

"_I've never been. I'd love to go, I've actually never been out of the US before" I say._

"_Really?" she asks._

"_Well it's such a big country that our family holidays were always just to different states, not different countries. I'd love to travel though, to see places outside of the US" I say._

"_You know, I just might know a way for you to do that" she says._

"_Really? How?" I ask._

"_Me and some of my friends are booking round the world tickets after graduation. You could come with us" she suggests._

"_You barely even know me" I say._

"_Not yet, but I'd like to" she says, stroking my hair. _

"_Can I ask you a question?" I ask, pulling away awkwardly._

"_Sure, anything" she says. _

"_How did you…..you know come out?" I ask._

"_Why, you want some tips?" she asks._

"_I never said I was" I say, slightly on the defensive._

"_Oh please, you don't need to be defensive with me; I could tell that you were checking me out, as soon as you saw me. Being bi means I have excellent gaydar" she says._

"_So you're bi? Not just lesbian?" I ask._

"_I fall in love with people, not their genders. Male, female, I don't care as long as you're a great person" she says. _

"_So how did you? Come out?" I ask._

"_I didn't" she says. _

"_What do you mean? Your parents don't know?" I ask._

"_Oh no they know" she says._

"_So what do you mean?" I ask._

"_All I mean is; I never sat my parents down to have that conversation. I came home one day with a girl I'd been dating for a while, and introduced her as my girlfriend. Sure, my parents had questions afterward, and I answered all of them, but we never made it a big deal. As far as I was concerned, I shouldn't have to come out, after all what's the big deal? Straight people don't have to come out, so why should we? Why should we have to declare that we like boys, or girls, or both boys and girls? We're no different from them" she says._

"_I wish it was that easy" I say. _

"_It only has to be difficult if you make it difficult. Tell me, are your parents homophobic in any way?" she asks._

"_No, I have "aunts" and "uncles" who are gay, they're my parents friends, so they're honorary aunts and uncles, but my parents love them, so I'm pretty sure they'd accept me. I just don't want to be labelled. I don't want to become 'that gay kid'" I say._

"_Take it from me, no one can label you if you don't let them" she says. _

"_I wish I could be like that" I say._

"_Like what?" she asks._

"_Confident, not caring so much about what everyone else thinks of me" I say. _

"_It's not bad to care about what others think of you, but you can't care too much, otherwise you're being who other people want you to be and not who you are. You've got to be who you are and if other people don't like that, then that's their problem" she says. _

_I'm not really sure what I'm doing, I mean she hasn't given any signals to say that she wants this, but I lean in towards her, and kiss her. She seems a little surprised at first, but she returns the kiss willingly, even deepening it, as she flicks her tongue into my mouth. The kiss lasts several minutes, and we only pull away when we both need to breathe._

"_Wow" I say. It only hits me then, that was my first kiss. _

"_You know you're not bad for a rookie" she says._

"_How did you…..?" I ask._

"_I can tell" she says winking. _

"_Would you like to…..I mean only if you want to…would you…..go out with me? Like maybe for coffee or something? This afternoon?" I ask. I've never been so nervous in my life, my palms are all clammy and I'm sweating. _

"_I wish I could, I really do, but I actually have a blind date" she says, apologetically. _

"_Oh" I say, trying to hide the crestfallen look on my face. I don't do a good job, because she notices._

"_Look I'd love to go out with you, even if it's just as friends. I don't know where this whole blind date thing is going to go yet, but I do like you" she says._

"_I like you too" I say. _

"_So maybe we could just get to know each other? See where things go?" she says._

"_What if you like your blind date?" I ask._

"_Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but if you'd like to, then I'd really like to get to know you better" she says._

"_I would love that" I say. _

"_So what do you like to do?" she asks._

"_Reading, drawing, painting, running, anything where I can be outdoors, oh and of course singing" I say._

"_Well since reading isn't exactly a social activity, and I'm not exactly a runner, how about we go for a hike instead? You said you liked being outdoors, and if we're just walking then it will give us a chance to talk" she says._

"_I'd love that. Where?" I ask._

"_You decide, you probably know the hiking trails around here better than I do" she says._

"_Okay, how about next weekend?" I ask._

"_Sounds perfect" she says. _

_We chat for a little longer, mostly about music, her life in London and our respective families. When the buzzer goes to signal the end of my free period, I'm kind of sad because I've been really enjoying talking to Sydney. _

"_So I'll see you around?" I ask. She takes my arm, and taking out a pen, scribbles something on it. _

"_What is that?" I ask._

"_It's my number, call me when you've decided on a place for us to go hiking" she says._

"_I will" I reply. _

"_Goodbye, Raina" she says._

"_You can call me Ray, everyone does" I say. _

"_And you can call me Syd" she says. We share a hug and she gives me a kiss on the cheek._

"_See you around" she says, flipping her long red hair over her shoulders, and walking out of the library._

"_See you around" I whisper as she walks away. I seriously hope this blind date of hers is awful, because I think I really like her. _

**Kira's POV**

**I wake early, as I always do in the morning. Unlike Rubes, I don't like to lie in. Why would you sleep for any longer than necessary when there is so much to do? I mean sleeping is kind of boring, and I'd much rather be doing something. I quickly change into a pair of leggings and a tank top, before walking downstairs and into the basement. My dad built a dance space in our basement so that we could practice whenever we wanted, and so he could work on routines to teach the kids in his classes at home. I love it; it's great for my early morning practices when I don't want to have to drive to the studio. I turn on the music, at a low a level, and start to sing Selena Gomez's Come and Get It, and perform the dance routine from the video.**

_Kira:_

_When you're ready come and get it_

_When you're ready come and get it_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_When you're ready_

_When you're ready_

_When you're ready come and get it_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_You ain't gotta worry, it's an open invitation_

_I'll be sittin' right here, real patient_

_All day, all night, I'll be waitin' standby_

_Can't stop because I love it, hate the way I love you_

_All day, all night, maybe I'm addicted for life, no lie_

_I'm not too shy to show I love you, I got no regrets_

_I love you too much, too much to hide you, this love ain't finished yet_

_So baby whenever you're ready….._

_When you're ready come and get it_

_When you're ready come and get it_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_When you're ready _

_When you're ready_

_When you're ready come and get it_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_You got the kind of love that I want, let me get that (let me get that yeah)_

_And baby once I get it, I'm yours no take backs_

_Gon' love you for life; I ain't leaving your side_

_Even if you knock it, ain't no way to stop it_

_Forever you're mine, baby I'm addicted, no lie, no lie_

_I'm not too shy to show I love you, I got no regrets_

_So baby whenever you're ready_

_When you're ready come and get it_

_When you're ready come and get it_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_When you're ready_

_When you're ready_

_When you're ready come and get it_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_This love will be the death of me_

_But I know I'll die happily_

_I'll know, I'll know, I'll know_

_Because you love me so…yeah!_

_When you're ready come and get it_

_When you're ready come and get it_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_When you're ready_

_When you're ready_

_When you're ready come and get it (when you're ready come and get it)_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

_Na na na na_

**I hear clapping from the stairs and turn around to see Rubes standing there. "That was great" she says.**

"**You're awake? It's 6.30?" I say incredulously. **

"**I heard you singing" she says. **

"**I didn't mean to wake you up. How long have you been there?" I ask.**

"**Oh, only since about halfway through. That's a great routine" she says.**

"**Yeah, it's not going to win me the winter showcase though" I say. **

"**I've been thinking about that, and I think we should do a routine together. If we danced together we'd be bound to win, plus I love dancing with you Kiki" she says ruffling my hair. I duck away; I hate it when she does that.**

"**That sounds good; we could definitely put together a killer routine. You want to practice after school today?" I ask.**

"**I can't, I got a text from Freddie last night. He wants to meet for coffee" she says.**

"**See I told you he just needed a little time to cool off!" I say, punching her shoulder lightly.**

"**Not so fast, he just apologised for losing his temper and said he'd like to see me, he didn't say he'd talk about why me trying to make out with him made him upset" she says.**

"**Rubes, if he doesn't want to talk about it, it's probably with good reason. He's had a tough life with his parents dying and growing up with just his sister and his grandparents, I wouldn't push it if I were you" I say.**

"**I'm not trying to, I guess I'm just curious as to why it made him so uncomfortable" she says.**

"**He'll tell you when he's ready, and in the meantime you should just try to get to know the things about him that he is willing to tell you. Anyway, it sounds like someone has a date" I say.**

"**It is not a date, it's just coffee" she says.**

"**Yeah, coffee, not tutoring, so he's not being paid to be there, and he already kissed you and said he liked you, so it's a date" I say.**

"**What about you, huh? You're so interested in my love life, but I don't get to pry into yours? I don't see how that works" she says, teasingly.**

"**That would be because my love life is non-existent. I haven't been out with anyone since Louis last year" I say.**

"**Ah yes, the gay guy" she says.**

"**Look, I didn't know he was gay!" I insist.**

"**But it was so obvious!" she says, rolling her eyes. **

"**I just haven't met anyone nice enough yet. Most of the guys in our year are douchebags" I say.**

"**I could see if Freddie has any friends" she says, winking.**

"**Thanks, but I'll be okay. I don't need my older sister getting dates for me" I say.**

"**Well the offer's always there if you want it" she says.**

"**I appreciate that" I reply. "You want to join me?" I ask, turning back to where I was dancing before.**

"**Sure, why not?" she says, coming to stand next to me. I walk over to the docking station and press play on my IPod. We start to make up routines to the music which comes on, dancing not for practice, not for an exam, but just because we love to do it. Mom has to call several times for us because we don't hear her over the music. **

**We walk back up the stairs, and then into the kitchen, where Mom and Dad are sitting at the table. **

"**Hey Mom, Dad" I say.**

"**Hi Kira? And Ruby? This is a surprise, you're not usually awake this early" Mom says.**

"**I can be I just choose not to be" she says. Ruby and I both take our seats at the kitchen table. **

"**So how did the tutoring go with Freddie yesterday Rubes? I know you weren't keen on the whole tutoring thing but I hope he was helpful" Dad says.**

"**Oh she loved it" I say, and Rubes elbows me. **

"**What does she mean Rubes?" Dad asks, suspiciously.**

"**Nothing, she just means that he was really helpful. He explains things in a way that I can understand" she says.**

"**I bet he does" I say, and Rubes kicks me. I kick her back, annoyed at her hurting me, when I'm just joking around.**

"**Are you dating this boy Rubes? Or interested in him? Because we wouldn't have hired him as your tutor if we thought either you or he were interested in dating. You don't need another distraction from your work" Dad says.**

"**Come on Mike, if she says he's being helpful and her Math grades start to improve then it's none of our business whether she likes him or not" Mom says. I smile gratefully at her.**

"**I don't want you dating him. I'm sure he's a nice kid, but you need to focus on your work this year if you're going to maintain a GPA good enough to get into a great college" Dad says.**

"**I'm not dating Freddie okay! He's just a friend" she insists, shooting me a warning glare not to say anything. **

"**What about you Kira? Have you been seeing anyone?" Mom asks. I'm quite grateful that Mom's turning the attention off Freddie and Ruby because I think Ruby may just have killed me if I'd accidently spilled that she and Freddie are dating, well I suppose dating is too premature, but they certainly like each other and it seems to be heading that way.**

"**No, I'm just focusing on my schoolwork right now" I say, although it's not true, I only study as much as it takes to be able to pass an exam, I don't spend that much time studying. **

"**Good girl" Dad says. **

"**So are neither of us allowed to date, ever? Do we just have to focus on our work and never have any fun?" Rubes asks.**

"**No, I wasn't saying that. You can date, as long as it doesn't get in the way of your schoolwork" he says.**

"**So if it doesn't get in the way of my schoolwork, then can I date Freddie?" she asks.**

"**No" Dad replies.**

"**Why not? You said I could date if it didn't get in the way of my schoolwork" I say.**

"**He's your tutor, if you started dating him you would get distracted from your work" Dad says.**

"**I disagree, he's really helpful and I don't think me dating him would cause any problems" she says.**

"**The answer is no Ruby and that's all there is to it. He is your tutor, and you're allowed to be friends with him but if I find out you two are anything more than that then you will be getting a different tutor" Dad says. Ruby glares at him, and Mom quickly changes the topic in order to diffuse the tension.**

"**It's such a shame things didn't work out with you and Louis. I really liked him" Mom says, turning to me.**

"**So did I but as it turns out he prefers other guys" I say.**

"**And you never realised?" she asks.**

"**Do I need to bring up Uncle Blaine?" I ask, and my mom turns red in embarrassment.**

"**I knew he liked guys, I was just hoping that maybe he'd like me too. It was a long time ago and I wasn't exactly in the best place after your dad and I broke up" she says.**

"**I probably should have known, the nice ones are always gay" I say, sighing. It's true; all the other guys I've dated have been jerks, dated me for a few weeks and then dumped me as soon as something better came along.**

"**You'll find a nice guy honey, I'm sure" Mom says. **

"**Well it's not my highest priority at the moment" I say.**

"**What's going on at school at the moment girls?" Dad asks.**

"**Well aside from the boring school stuff, we're preparing for homecoming in cheerleading, I've got a big soccer game, and I'm going to audition for Glee today" I say.**

"**Have you prepared your audition song?" Dad asks.**

"**It's not one I need to prepare, I'm singing my go to song" I say.**

"**Whenever Wherever?" Dad asks.**

"**Damn straight!" I say. I love Shakira, she's my idol, she can sing, she can dance, she choreographs, she produces music, there's basically nothing the woman can't do. My dad wanted to name me after Shakira, but my mom wanted a Chinese name (don't know why, she's Korean), so they compromised on Akira. I would have preferred Shakira, but since everyone calls me Kira anyway, it really doesn't matter. My dad likes to joke that I can't shut up because they dropped the "Sh" from my name. **

"**I'm sure you'll get in, honey, you and your sister are both very talented" Mom says.**

"**Thanks Mom" I say.**

"**So I heard the music downstairs, what were you girls practicing?" Dad asks.**

"**We were just mucking around, improvising routines to songs on Kira's IPod" Rubes says.**

"**That's good, it's good to have fun dancing and not just structured practice all the time" Dad says.**

"**Yeah we're thinking about auditioning for the winter showcase" I say.**

"**Will you help us choreograph a routine Dad?" Rubes asks.**

"**I'm sure you girls could choreograph a brilliant routine by yourselves" he says.**

"**We could, but we could choreograph an even better routine with your help. You're the best dancer we know Dad" I say.**

"**Well in that case I would be honoured" he says.**

"**Would you be able to do after school tomorrow?" Rubes asks.**

"**What's wrong with this afternoon?" he asks.**

"**Oh, Freddie and I have another tutoring session" she says. **

"**I thought you didn't have another one until next week? I'm not paying for him more than once a week, he's not cheap" Dad says.**

"**I needed some extra help for a math test I've got coming up, and he agreed to do it for the price of a coffee" she says. **

"**Are you sure it's tutoring and not a date?" Dad asks suspiciously.**

"**I really do have a math test, you can call school and ask if you want" she says.**

"**Fine" Dad says, although he still doesn't look completely happy. I'm not sure why, although I haven't officially met Freddie, I've seen him around school and he seems like a nice enough guy. I mean I get that he doesn't want Rubes to be distracted from her schoolwork, but it sounds as if Freddie really helped her with her Math, and he might actually be a good influence on her. Hopefully he'll come around, because I don't see Rubes stopping dating him. **

"**Maybe we could practice after school tomorrow" I suggest.**

"**Well my classes don't finish until eight, so you girls could always come down and practice whilst you wait for me to finish, or you could help out with some of the classes if you want, earn a little extra cash" Dad says. Rubes and I are both assistant coaches at my dad's studio, we teach an Intermediate class each (under Dad's supervision), and we often help out with some of the other classes from time to time in order to get some extra money.**

"**I'd be down for that" Rubes says.**

"**Me too" I say. **

"**Great" Dad says. My favourite thing in the entire world is dancing with Dad. We've always been close, closer than me and my mom, because my mom and I have totally different personality types, she's always been shy, and me…..well anyone who knows me would say that I'm anything but. I mean my Dad and I are different too, but we've bonded over being popular, smart and of course our love for dancing.**

"**So what classes have you got tomorrow afternoon anyway?" I ask.**

"**Oh, I have my beginners' ballet, my intermediate contemporary, my advanced ballet and my intermediate street class" he says. My dad teaches a large range of dance styles, he can do almost everything. I want to be like that, to be able to dance every possible dance style available. I want to travel the world, making a living from people who want to come and see me dance.**

"**We have Cheerios practice for about an hour straight after school, but we can come over after that" Rubes says. I'd almost forgotten that we had cheerleading practice tomorrow. **

"**That's fine, just come over when you're ready" Dad says.**

"**So how are your classes going Dad?" I ask.**

"**Really well, we're planning on doing a Christmas showcase in December to show off the studio, see if we can attract some more kids to learn there. The studio's doing pretty well anyway though, we just added two extra classes, and we're interviewing for more teachers" he says.**

"**I could always take on another class if you need more help" I say. Although I want to be a professional dancer, and not teach dance like my dad, I do really enjoy helping out with the classes at his studio.**

"**Thanks honey, but you need to be at least 17 to take your qualifications. You're great as an assistant coach, but you're not quite old enough to be a coach yet. Maybe you and your sister can take your exams next year" he says.**

"**I'd love that" I say. "What about you Mom? How's the vocal coaching going?" I ask.**

"**It's going well, one of the girls I teach is a senior and she's applying to NYADA so I'm helping her with the video part of her application" Mom says. We talk a little more about school, before Rubes and I say goodbye and walk out to the car. It's my turn to drive to school today, as Rubes drove yesterday. I hop in the driver's seat of the car, whilst she gets in the passenger seat.**

"**Look, I'm sorry that I made those jokes about you and Freddie in front of Mom and Dad. It wasn't cool, I get that you don't want them to know, and I promise, I won't tell them anything" I say.**

"**I did want to tell them. I was so excited; finally I could tell them about a boy I liked, one that they would actually approve of. I mean Freddie is everything they've ever wanted in a boyfriend for me, he's smart, even smarter than me, he's sweet, and yeah he's a little awkward but in really cute way. This is so typical, I finally like a boy that they might approve of and they don't want me to date him! It's so unfair!" she says.**

"**I know, Rubes, I'm sorry" I say.**

"**It doesn't matter. I don't need them to approve. If I want to date Freddie, then I am damn well going to date Freddie, I don't care what they think" she says.**

"**You shouldn't, if you like him, then go for it" I say.**

"**You're not going to tell me that it's a terrible idea?" she asks, sounding surprised.**

"**No, I think Dad's wrong. I think Freddie could be really good for you, and your schoolwork. If it's something you want, then you should go for it" I say.**

"**Will you be my alibi?" she asks.**

"**What?" I reply.**

"**When I go out with Freddie, can I say I'm going out with you instead? Dad will get suspicious if I say we're having extra tutoring sessions all the time" she says.**

"**What do I do whilst you're out with Freddie?" I ask.**

"**You can do whatever you want, it doesn't really matter to me" she says.**

"**Fine I'll do it" I say.**

"**Thanks Kira, you're the best" she says. I happily chatter on about anything and everything for the rest of the drive, with Ruby nodding along, and adding to the conversation when she has something to say. Ruby's not quite as chatty as me, sure she's confident and outgoing, but unlike me, she knows when to shut up. I hate long silences, and I always want to fill them with anything, no matter how nonsensical. I think Rubes is kind of relieved when we pull into the parking lot and I finally stop talking. **

"**You have to tell me how your date with Freddie goes this afternoon. I'm living vicariously through you remember?" I say.**

"**Well maybe you should find yourself a boyfriend and change that. See you later Kira" she says, spotting a friend of hers from Cheerios and rushing over to join them. I head over to my locker, grabbing my History books before walking to class.**

**Unlike my sister, I love school; I'm just too lazy to study for anything. Still, I don't need to study, I'm smart enough to barely study for any test at all and I will still get a decent grade. It's fun learning new stuff, it's just not fun revising stuff that you've already learned. The morning passes pretty quickly as I throw myself into my schoolwork, and before I know it, its break time. I head over to the auditorium for my glee audition, taking a seat behind Aunt Rachel and Aunt Quinn. I watch as first Carly Hudson auditions, and then Raina Evans. Once Raina's finished her song, and she leaves the stage, I walk up the steps, taking my position in the centre of the stage.**

"**Hey Kira, I was hoping we'd see you here today" Aunt Rachel says. **

"**I figured you could use someone with crazy dance skills like mine and I've wanted there to be a glee club at school ever since I started here" I say.**

"**So which Shakira song did you choose?" Aunt Quinn asks.**

"**How did you know?" I ask.**

"**Please Shakira is to you, what Barbra Streisand is to Rachel, there was no way you weren't going to do one of her songs" Aunt Quinn says.**

"**I'll be singing Whenever, Wherever" I say, smiling.**

"**Great song choice, go for it" she says.**

**I tie my tank top in a knot, so that my belly is exposed, as my routine is a belly dancing one (it's not my favourite style of dance, but it's the one that the song requires so I have to put aside my personal insecurities about my body for the art). I nod to the sound guy, and he starts the music, and I begin to sing, and dance.**

_Kira:_

_Lucky you were born that far away so_

_We could both make fun of distance_

_Lucky that I love a foreign land for_

_The lucky fact of your existence_

_Baby I would climb the Andes solely_

_To count the freckles on your body_

_Never could imagine there were only_

_Ten million ways to love somebody_

_Le ro lo le lo le, Le ro lo le lo le_

_Can't you see_

_I'm at your feet_

_Whenever, wherever_

_We're meant to be together_

_I'll be there and you'll be near_

_And that's the deal my dear_

_Thereover, hereunder_

_You'll never have to wonder_

_We can always play by ear_

_And that's the deal my dear_

_Lucky that my lips not only mumble_

_They spill kisses like a fountain_

_Lucky that my breasts are small and humble_

_So you don't confuse them with mountains_

_Lucky I have strong legs like my mother_

_To run for cover when I need it_

_And these two eyes that for no other_

_The day you leave will cry a river_

_Le ro le le lo le, Le ro le le lo le_

_At your feet_

_I'm at your feet_

_Whenever, wherever_

_We're meant to be together_

_I'll be there and you'll be near_

_And that's the deal my dear_

_Thereover, hereunder_

_You'll never have to wonder_

_We can always play by ear_

_But that's the deal my dear_

_Le ro le le lo le, Le ro le le lo le_

_Think out loud_

_Say it again_

_Le ro lo le lo le lo le_

_Tell me one more time_

_That you'll live_

_Lost in my eyes_

_Whenever, wherever_

_We're meant to be together_

_I'll be there and you'll be near_

_And that's the deal my dear_

_Thereover, hereunder_

_You've got me head over heels_

_There's nothing left to fear_

_If you really feel the way I feel_

_Whenever, wherever_

_We're meant to be together_

_I'll be there and you'll be near_

_And that's the deal my dear_

_Thereover, hereunder_

_You've got me head over heels_

_There's nothing left to fear_

_If you really feel the way I feel_

**I finish the song with one last shake of my hips, before landing in the splits. I then pull myself up, untying my tank top and allowing it to drop back down. **

"**What did you think?" I ask.**

"**You're very talented Kira, your dancing skills could certainly be used in Glee Club, and your voice isn't half bad either. You're in" Aunt Rachel says.**

"**Really?" I ask.**

"**Really. There'll be a full list going up Friday, but that's just a technicality. First rehearsal is on Friday, in the choir room at four, so don't be late" Aunt Quinn says.**

"**Thank you!" I say, running off the stage. I'm not looking where I'm going and I run straight into someone who was standing on the side of the stage.**

"**Oh my god! I'm so sorry" I say. **

"**No problem" a voice says. The owner of the voice pushes himself up, and then holds out a hand to help me up, which I accept gratefully. I look up and finally realise who I ran into. It's Jackson Avery, the notorious playboy who has slept with half the girls in this school.**

"**Oh it's you" I say.**

"**No need to sound so disappointed" he says, winking.**

"**I'm not falling for your crap, so you may as well leave right now" I say.**

"**Who says it's crap? What if you're the one I really want?" he asks, batting his eyelashes.**

"**Ok if you think I'm going to fall for that, then you really are crazy" I say, pushing past him, but he grabs my wrist.**

"**Let go of my hand" I say, in a quiet, but obviously angry voice.**

"**I just wanted to say that I thought you were really good out there. I've never seen you dance before, you were really fantastic" he says.**

"**You've never seen me dance before because we're not friends and if we were friends you would know that my dad is dance teacher, and he's been teaching me to dance since I was three years old, so you're damn right I'm good" I say.**

"**No need to get so angry, I was giving you a compliment" he says.**

"**I don't want to be a girl that you compliment. The girls you compliment, you end up sleeping with, and I'm not going to hurt whichever girl currently thinks she's going out with you, by helping you cheat on her" I say.**

"**So my reputation precedes me" he says.**

"**Every girl in this school knows who you are. The smart ones know to run for the hills as soon as you come near them" I say.**

"**Is that not like judging a book by its cover?" he asks.**

"**There's no need to judge the cover when you already know from multiple sources that the content is bad" I retort.**

"**Ooh, so she has sass does she?" he says, looking mildly impressed.**

"**What do you want Jackson, you're making me late for class" I say.**

"**Coffee, that's all" he replies.**

"**Fine, I will meet you after school today. Now are we done here?" I say, moving to go past him, but he blocks my path.**

"**Now" he says.**

"**Now? I have Math now" I say.**

"**So? Ditch it" he says.**

"**I am not skipping class for you!" I say. I don't understand why he seems to be so obsessed with me today; I guess I'm just flavour of the month. He'll be onto someone new as soon as whichever girl he's saved from being slushied this time dumps him, after realising he's cheating on her. I'm not going to be the other woman.**

"**Live a little Kira. You spend your whole life doing as Mommy and Daddy and your teachers tell you, for once do something spontaneous and fun" he says.**

"**You don't know shit about me!" I say, pushing to move past him, but he won't budge.**

"**I'm not moving until you agree to go with me. We can either stand here for the rest of the day, or you can come out for a quick coffee with me, but either way you miss your lesson, so you may as well choose the fun option" he says.**

"**Fine, one coffee, but then you're bringing me straight back here" I say.**

"**Deal" he says, extending his hand. I reluctantly shake it, not really wanting to go with him, but figuring that going for coffee is better than being stuck here, if those are my only two options. I follow him outside, and he leads me over to a motorcycle. He hands me a helmet.**

"**Hop on" he says. **

"**I am not getting on that thing" I say, taking a couple of steps away from the bike. Call me crazy, but I prefer my transportation to have doors so there's no chance of me falling off either side, and a windscreen so there's no chance of me flipping over the front, and a back so that I can't fall off the back. Basically, I like being in a car. **

"**Come on Kir, it's only ten minutes to the coffee shop, you'll barely be on the bike" he says. **

"**If I die on this thing, then I'm blaming you" I say, grudgingly taking the helmet. He gets on the bike, and then I get on behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist. He revs the engine, and then we are roaring down the road, travelling way faster than the national speed limit. Once my initial nerves die down, I actually really enjoy it, and I'm almost sad when we get to the coffee shop.**

"**So, riding on the back of the bike? Cool or what?" he asks.**

"**I have to admit, it was pretty fun" I say smiling. **

"**It's so much better than a car. You get to dodge traffic, so you get everywhere faster, and let's face it, a bike is just cooler" he says.**

"**Plus it adds to your bad boy image which I'm sure doesn't hurt" I say, making him laugh.**

"**You're right, it doesn't" he says. He walks into the coffee shop, and I follow. **

"**What do you want?" he asks me, when we reach the till.**

"**A caffe macchiato please" I say.**

"**One caffe macchiato, and a latte please" he says. We wait at the counter for the barista to bring over our drinks. She comes back a few minutes later with our drinks. **

"**That will be $6.55" the girl says. Jackson goes for his wallet but I stop him.**

"**This is not a first date, I can pay for my own drink" I say. I hand over the $3.85 for my drink, and then he pays for his before we walk over to a booth in the back. **

"**You know I could have paid for that" he says.**

"**I know, but I didn't want you to. Like I said, this isn't a date. I'm trying to get away from the douche type and you definitely fit into that category" I say.**

"**That's not fair, you don't even know me" he says.**

"**So if you're not a douche then why do you date girls, only to cheat on them a few months later and leave them broken-hearted?" I ask.**

"**It sounds cliché but I just haven't found the right girl yet. I don't mean to hurt them, I honestly think that I like each girl that I go out with, until I meet someone better" he says.**

"**So why don't you just dump the girl you're currently seeing for the new girl you like?" I ask.**

"**I guess I like the danger of cheating. The feeling of almost being caught but not quite, the feeling of living on the edge. It's like the buzz you get from drugs or alcohol, I guess" he says.**

"**There are other ways to create that kind of buzz" I say.**

"**How would you know? When was the last time you did something crazy?" he asks.**

"**Who's being judgemental now? I love taking risks, the bigger the better, as long as it's legal. I've done rock climbing, and no not the indoor kind, the one with actual rocks, whitewater kayaking, scuba diving and windsurfing, and none of those things are particularly safe" I say.**

"**Whoa, okay there little daredevil" he says laughing a little. "So if you're such a daredevil why were you scared of my bike?" he asks.**

"**I never said I wasn't scared of any of those things, I was, but I did them anyway, because fear is great adrenaline and if I didn't do them I would have kicked myself. Plus they were all great fun; I find that the things you're scared of are usually the most fun to do. Also I'm a cheerleader, and that's actually pretty dangerous, if anyone twitches in the pyramid then that could send everyone else tumbling down, and the girls at the top of the pyramid could get knocked unconscious or worse if they fall" I say.**

"**Oh yeah, I forget that you're a cheerleader. You don't seem quite as ditsy as the rest of them" he says.**

"**That is such a stereotype, cheerleaders are not airheads. Lots of my friends are really smart and they're in line for cheerleading scholarships at really good colleges" I say.**

"**Hey, you stereotyped me first!" he says. **

"**How about we make a deal and from now on, neither of us stereotypes the other?" I suggest.**

"**Sounds good" he says.**

"**So aside from skipping school, what do you do? You into sports, or music, or art or what?" I ask.**

"**I like music a bit, but I'm more of a sports guy. I do baseball in the summer season, and then basketball in the winter season" he says.**

"**You sure you haven't seen me cheering at one of your games?" I ask.**

"**I'd remember a face like yours" he says, stroking my cheek. I pull away quickly, reminding myself that I can't let myself fall for him, because he'll just break my heart.**

"**So Jackson's a pretty unusual first name. Where'd it come from? Is it a family name or something?" I ask.**

"**No, my mom comes from Jackson, Mississippi, she named me after her hometown" he says.**

"**You don't sound like you come from the South" I say.**

"**That would be because I don't. My mom moved to Lima before I was born" he says.**

"**What happened?" I ask.**

"**The usual, my grandparents kicked her out when she found out she was pregnant with me. She was only seventeen. She got on the first flight out of Mississippi and it was to Ohio. She saw a wanted ad in the paper for a waitress in Lima and she took the job, so she ended up here" he says.**

"**I'm sorry that must have been rough. Where's your dad?" I ask.**

"**My mom's a tough cookie, she bounced back. My dad on the other hand, is a loser, he ran about a minute after my mom told him she was pregnant. We haven't heard from him since" he says.**

"**I can't imagine how hard that must be. Me and my dad have always been really close" I say.**

"**It's not that bad, me and my mom are really close, and I'm close to my little sister too, so I've never needed anyone else" he says.**

"**You have a sister? What's she called?" I ask.**

"**Melissa, she's nine" he says. **

"**Aww I bet she's sweet" I say.**

"**She is, she'd love you, she's obsessed with dancing" he says. **

"**Well my dad's taking new students at the studio if she wants to come down for a lesson sometime" I say.**

"**Thanks but she's already taking lessons with Jake Puckerman. We did look at other places, but my mom doesn't make all the much money, and Jake's classes are a lot cheaper than most, even if they are in the seedy part of town" he says.**

"**No offence taken, Jake's a great dancer, and he's one of my dad's friends" I say. **

"**Still she'd definitely love to meet you. She wants to be a professional dancer someday, a ballerina like Anna Pavlova or Margot Fonteyn" he says.**

"**It impresses me that you know who they are for starters…" I say.**

"**Nine year old sister here" he says, interrupting me. **

"**But if your sister wants ballet tips she should really talk to Freya Hummel-Anderson, the girl's incredible. I mean I'm taking my grade 8 exam this year, but Freya's doing her Advanced 1, and she's a high enough standard to do Advanced 2, she's just not old enough to take it" I say.**

"**Do you have a phone number?" he asks.**

"**I should probably talk to her sister; see if she'll talk to her. Freya's great at ballet, but she's not the most approachable person, so I'll have Sierra talk to her, and see if she'll consider doing it. She might just outright say no if she's asked by someone who doesn't know her very well" I say.**

"**Thanks, I appreciate that" he says.**

"**So your sister's name is Melissa? Do you have any other siblings?" I ask.**

"**No it's just me, my sister and my mom" he says.**

"**What's your mom called? Is she still a waitress?" I ask. **

"**My mom is called Laura, and no she's not a waitress anymore, she got her high school diploma online, and then went to community college, got a psych degree and now she's a counsellor" he says.**

"**That's really cool. Is she like a therapist, or a guidance counsellor?" I ask.**

"**A therapist, she works at a clinic downtown" he says. **

"**So she managed to get her degree, whilst working and taking care of you and your sister?" I ask.**

"**She worked days and took classes during the evening, and we would stay with her friends whilst she was at work, and if she couldn't find anyone to look after us, then she'd bring us to work with her, and sit us down with colouring books and stuff like that, and come check on us, when there was a lull, she always made sure we were looked after" he says.**

"**She sounds like a great mom" I say.**

"**She is. What about you though? I've been telling you all about my family and I haven't heard a thing about yours. What are they like?" he asks.**

"**My family? They're great, like I said, my dad has a dance studio, and he taught both me and my sister to dance. We're really close, we share the same love of dancing, and I'm his little girl which basically means I can get him to do whatever I want. My mom's a vocal coach, we aren't so close, we're quite different personality wise and we clash quite a lot" I say.**

"**You and your dad sounds like me and my sister, she has me wrapped around her little finger as well. What about you? Do you have any siblings?" he says.**

"**Yeah I bet she does! I have an older sister Ruby, she's 17, and we're really close. She loves to dance as well, and sing, &amp; she's also a cheerleader. She's awesome, she does what she wants when she wants and doesn't give a damn what people think of her. I really admire that about her, she never feels like she has to be good enough for anyone else, other people have to be good enough for her" I say.**

"**She sounds really cool. But what about you? Tell me something about you" he says.**

"**Me? I like to surprise people. I never want to be what people would expect me to be" I say.**

"**Now that I can believe, you've surprised me plenty already today" he says.**

"**Why did you come to Glee auditions today? I didn't even think you knew who I was" I say.**

"**Well I didn't, not really, anyway. I mean, I had heard of you, enough to know your name, but I didn't know anything more than that" he says.**

"**So why did you come?" I ask.**

"**Honestly? I figured some cute girls might audition and I wanted to try my luck. I stayed because I saw you dance, and I was captivated by you" he says.**

"**Is that a pick up line or are you actually being truthful?" I ask.**

"**I'm being completely honest. I've never seen anyone dance like that before, it was like the music was a part of you" he says.**

"**That's really sweet" I say.**

"**You're really sweet" he replies, leaning his face toward mine. I pull away.**

"**We should probably go" I say, looking down and realising that without knowing it, I'd finished my coffee. He nods, and takes a last sip of his drink. I leave a couple of dollars for a tip, on the table before following him out to his bike again. This time, I get on without hesitation, actually wanting to feel the exhilaration of riding on the back of the bike again. We breeze down the road back to school, going at least 20 miles over the national speed limit, but neither of us really cares; we're having so much fun. I want to stretch my arms out, and lean back, feeling the wind on my arms, but I know if I do that then I'll just fall off, so I wrap my arms tighter around Jackson, leaning my head on his shoulder. **

**We arrive back at school about ten minutes later, and I jump off the bike, taking my helmet off and shaking my hair out. **

"**You look cute with helmet hair" Jackson says, taking my helmet back from me. **

"**Thanks" I say. We step closer to each other, so there's barely an inch between us. **

"**I can't" I whisper, although I can feel my resolve weakening. It has been, little by little, as I've realised that he's not as much of a jerk as I first thought. Still, I know he must be seeing one or more other girls, and I can't hurt them. I don't want to be one of those girls, who knowingly cheats with someone she knows is in a relationship. A small voice inside me says "but you don't actually know that he's seeing someone" and it's fighting with the voice that says "but you know he is; he always is". **

"**Yes you can" he whispers back. "You can't deny the chemistry between us" he says.**

"**I don't want to hurt anyone" I say.**

"**You're not hurting anyone. Not yet anyway" he says.**

"**That's the problem Jackson. I'm always just going to be friends with benefits to you, you're going to get another girlfriend and I'm just going to be the girl on the side" I say.**

"**You know who the real me is now, are you telling me that you aren't willing to take a chance on that guy?" he asks.**

"**I'd be willing to take a chance on that guy, if I knew for sure that was the real you" I say.**

"**Well for that you just have to trust me" he says.**

"**I'm not sure if I can" I say.**

"**Aren't you?" he asks, leaning towards me. This time, I don't resist and I allow him to kiss me, kissing him back. I jump up, wrapping my legs around his waist. He deepens the kiss, running his hands through my hair. After a few long, minutes, we both finally pull away.**

"**I should go, I don't want to miss anymore class time" I say.**

"**You could have so much more fun with me" he says, lifting my shirt. I smack his hand away.**

"**No! I'm not that kind of girl! I'm not going to lose it like this" I say.**

"**Lose it? You mean you're still a…?" he says, trailing off.**

"**Yes, I have too much respect for myself to sleep with just anyone. When I do finally have sex, it's going to be with someone special" I say.**

"**I am someone special" he says, pulling me closer to him again. I slap his hand away once more. **

"**You're going to have to prove that" I say, stepping away from him.**

"**Can I at least have your number?" he asks. I take a pen out of my bag, and scrawl it on his arm. **

"**See you later, Jackson Avery" I say.**

"**See you later, Kira Chang" he replies. I turn away from him, swinging my hips a little as I walk. I either just met a really great guy, or made one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Problem is; I'm not sure which one yet. **

**Rachel's POV**

"**So is that it? Is that everyone?" I ask, when Quinn and I finish going over our notes from all the auditions on Friday morning, and have made our final decisions on who is going to be in, although it's pretty much a technicality, everyone we said got in on their audition day is in. **

"**Yeah, that's it. Can you believe how many people we got? When we were in Glee we were lucky that we got thirteen people, and now we've got more than twenty members" Quinn says. **

"**It's lucky we all had a lot of kids!" I say, making Quinn laugh. **

"**So where are we on the name? Do we want to keep it as New Directions, or do we want to change it to something new?" she asks. **

"**I think it's a new era of Glee, we should give the club a new name, a new legacy. I don't think it's exactly fair to impose our legacy on us, we should let them create their own" I say.**

"**I like your thinking" she says. We discuss names for about an hour before we finally land on a name that we both love. **

"**You ready to make this Glee Club official?" I ask.**

"**Definitely. You want to put the list up together?" she asks.**

"**We should, as our first official act as co-directors of this Glee Club" I say. We walk out of the choir room together, over to the noticeboard, and pin up the list of our first official Glee Club members.**

"**I feel like we should toast the moment" Quinn says when we've put up the list.**

"**We should, but we can't drink on school property remember?" I say.**

"**Darn that stupid rule!" she says, and we both laugh.**

"**We can go out tonight to celebrate, I'll bring Finn and you can bring Puck" I say.**

"**Sounds like a plan" she says, and we go our separate ways, me towards my car, and Quinn towards her classroom. I'm so excited, for the first time since I moved back to Lima, I finally feel like I'm doing something that I'm really passionate about.**

_McKinley High Glee Club 2037 _

_Members:_

_Freshmen:_

_Carly Hudson_

_Freya Hummel-Anderson_

_Connor McCarthy_

_Josh Puckerman_

_Skye Samson_

_Eli Schuester_

_Sophomores_

_Jessie Abrams_

_Hanna Bradley_

_Raina Evans_

_Candice Hantz_

_Abby Hummel-Anderson_

_Sierra Hummel-Anderson_

_Remy Lynn_

_Morgan Lopez-Pierce_

_Juniors_

_Ruby Chang_

_Kira Chang_

_Jonah Evans_

_Hamish Flanagan_

_Shay Hudson_

_Kennedy Hudson_

_Sydney Lawson_

_Lexi Lopez-Pierce_

_Brant Lopez-Pierce_

_Drew McCarthy_

_Hayden Miller_

_Rose Puckerman_

_Ginny Puckerman_

_Shannon Puckerman_

_Leigh Puckerman_

_Freddie Robinson_

_Congratulations everyone! We hope this is going to be a great year!_

**I return to McKinley in the afternoon, having spent the rest of the day doing my part time job doing singing lessons at the McCarthy music store. When I arrive, Quinn and the kids are already in the choir room waiting for me.**

"**I'm sorry I'm late, I got held up in traffic" I say when I enter the room.**

"**No problem, we weren't going to start without you" Quinn says smiling. **

"**So you guys, welcome to the new glee club at McKinley High!" I say.**

"**Are we going to be nameless for the rest of the year, or have you actually decided on a name?" Shay asks, sounding bored. I will reprimand her for her bad attitude later, but for now I decide to ignore it. **

"**We have decided that the new name for this glee club is going to be Teenage Dreamers" I say.**

"**Like the Katy Perry song?" Kennedy asks.**

"**Yes, Teenage Dream is a Katy Perry song, but that is not why we chose the name. We chose the name because in high school, Glee Club was the place we came to make all of our big, crazy dreams come true, and we're hoping that our Glee Club is going to do the same thing for you" Quinn says.**

"**Now, I know most of you know each other, but we figured it wouldn't hurt to having a little getting to know you session at the beginning of our first meeting, given that some of you may not know each other, so let's all go around the room, and give our name, age, grade, something we like and something we dislike" I say. "How about you go first Shay?" I say, nodding towards my daughter.**

"**Fine, my name is Shay Hudson, I'm 17 and a Junior, I like cheerleading and I dislike being forced to join this stupid, reputation sucking club" she says, rolling her eyes. I should have figured it wasn't going to be easy getting her to come around to the idea of being in Glee. Still I have the whole year to change her mind.**

"**You pick someone to go next Shay" Quinn says.**

"**Fine, The Freak can go next" she says nodding towards Freya. **

"**My name is Freya Hummel-Anderson, I'm 14 and a Freshman, I like ballet, and I dislike spinach" Freya says. "Do you want to go next Carly?" she asks.**

"**Sure. My name is Carly Hudson, I'm also 14 and a Freshman, I like pizza and I dislike studying" she says. "Do you want to go next Jessie?" she asks.**

"**My name is Jessie Abrams, I'm 15 and a sophomore, I like dancing, and I dislike cooking, I really suck at it" she says. "Do you want to go next Remy?" she asks.**

"**My name is Remy Lynn, I'm also 15 and a sophomore, I like sport and I dislike getting up early, I mean 8.30 really is an ungodly hour to have to get to school for! Anyway, do you want to go next Hanna?" he says, turning to the pretty blonde girl who played the guitar and did all those Taylor Swift songs in her audition.**

"**Hi, my name is Hanna Bradley, I'm 15, and yes I'm also a sophomore, I like country music, and I dislike the fact that my parents can't agree a custody arrangement so their divorce hasn't been finalised yet and it's already been six months!" she says. A brief silence settles over the room after her outburst, no one's quite sure what to say. "How about you go next Brant?" she says, looking over at Brant Lopez-Pierce, and breaking the uncomfortable silence.**

"**My name is Brant Lopez-Pierce; I'm 16 and a Junior, I like swimming and I dislike spicy food. Would you like to go next Ruby?" he asks.**

"**My name is Ruby Chang, I'm 17 and a Junior, I like acting, in fact I want to go to drama school, and I dislike Math, and yes it is possible for an Asian to dislike Math, we're not all Math geniuses. Freddie do you want to go next?" she says, turning to the shy blonde boy, the one with the really sad, soulful voice, who is sitting next to her.**

"**My name is Freddie Robinson, I'm also 17 and a Junior, I like my sister, and I dislike sport, I'm just not very good at it. Uh, I don't really know anyone here, so I'll just hand it over to you" he says, turning to face Kira Chang who is sitting across from him, on the other side of Ruby.**

"**My name is Kira Chang, I'm 16 and a Junior, I like talking, a lot, I mean I can never understand those people who just like to stay silent all the time, what's the fun in that? and I dislike being sterotyped" she says. She is certainly a ball of energy; we're going to have to find a constructive way to use that energy. "Would you like to go next?" she asks, nodding at Lexi Lopez-Pierce who is sitting on the back row.**

"**My name is Lexi Lopez-Pierce, I'm 16 and a Junior, I like Peppermint Hot Chocolates and I dislike homophobes, there is nothing wrong with having two moms!" she says. "Would you like to go next?" she says, nodding at Abby Hummel-Anderson.**

"**My name is Abby Hummel-Anderson, I'm 16 and a sophomore, I like dancing, and I dislike people who are sexist. Do you want to go next Shannon?" she says and Shannon nods.**

"**My name is Shannon Puckerman, I'm 16 and a Junior. I like reading, and I dislike Katy Perry, but I still think Teenage Dreamers is a cool name for the club" she says. "Do you want to go next? I'm sorry, I don't know your name" she says, turning to Hamish Flanagan sitting behind her.**

"**My name is Hamish Flanagan, I'm 17 and a Junior, I like music and I dislike homework, but I mean who does like homework? Do you want to go next? Pretty girl with the pink highlights" he says, nodding at Rose Puckerman.**

"**My name is Rose Puckerman, I'm 16 and a Junior, I like the colour pink, as you can probably tell, and I dislike sports. My twin sister Ginny can go next" she says. **

"**My name is Ginny Puckerman, I'm 16 and a Junior, I like writing and I dislike crowds. Do you want to go next? It's Jonah right?" she says, nodding to Jonah Evans.**

"**My name is Jonah Evans, I'm 16 and a Junior, I like girls, and I dislike studying. Do you want to go next Kennedy?" he says. I smile seeing my daughter sitting next to him, looking at him like he's the only guy in the room. I seriously don't get why those two haven't got together yet, I was expecting it about three or four years ago.**

"**My name is Kennedy Hudson, I'm 16 and a Junior, I like fashion, and I dislike bullies. Would you like to go next Sierra?" she says.**

"**My name is Sierra Hummel-Anderson, I'm 15 and a sophomore, I like Beyonce, and I dislike studying. How about you go next Sydney?" Sierra says.**

"**My name is Sydney Lawson, I'm 17 and a Junior, I like London, especially the West End, and I dislike homophobes. Do you want to go next Candi?" she says, putting her arm around the blonde girl sitting next to her.**

"**My name is Candice Hantz, I'm 15 and a sophomore, I like Sherlock Holmes, and I dislike Justin Bieber. Do you want to go next Mo?" she says to her twin sister sitting on her other side.**

"**My name is Morgan Lopez-Pierce, I'm also 15 and a sophomore, and I'm Candice's twin. I like Horror movies, and I dislike my birth parents, sorry Candi" she says.**

"**No offence taken" Candice responds.**

"**Would you like to go next Raina?" Morgan asks.**

"**My name is Raina Evans, I'm also 15 and a sophomore, I like painting and I don't like big dogs" she says. She glares over at Candice and Sydney and I wonder if there's something going on there. "Would you like to go next Josh?" she asks.**

"**My name is Josh Puckerman, I'm 14 and a freshman, I like books and I don't like fish" he says. "Would you like to go next Leigh?" he asks.**

"**My name is Leigh Puckerman, I'm 16 and a Junior, I like dancing and I dislike movies that make me cry" she says. "Would you like to go next Eli?" she asks.**

"**My name is Eli Schuester, I'm 14 and a freshman, I like my dog Bella but I dislike being blind" he says, fondling his dog's ears. "Do you want to go next Skye?" he asks.**

"**My name is Skye Samson, I'm 15 and a freshman, I love my dog Holly and I hate it when people steal my cane" she says. "I can't exactly see anyone, so could whoever's closest to me just go next" she says.**

"**My name is Connor McCarthy, I'm 14 and a freshman, I like playing guitar, I don't like Math, although I think I might have been given a reason to like it" he says, smiling at Freya Hummel-Anderson and she tentatively smiles back. I can already tell there's going to be a lot of romantic drama in this club. "Do you want to go next Drew?" he says, turning to his twin brother who is sitting next to him.**

"**My name is Drew McCarthy, I'm 17 and a junior, I love my twin brother, I don't like the dumb jocks who think it's cool to throw slushies, I'm not one of those guys" he says. "It looks like you're the last one" he says, nodding at Hayden Miller, the angry guy with a big attitude that auditioned for us the first week of school.**

"**My name is Hayden Miller, I'm also 17 and a junior, I love my motorcycle, I hate my family, they're all jerks" he says.**

"**Right, that's great, you guys all know a little about each other, and hopefully you're all going to become great friends, like we did when we were in this club" Quinn says. **

"**We haven't decided on a first assignment for you guys yet, but we can tell you that we will be meeting twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays from now on, and we will try to schedule practices around your other extra-curriculars as much as possible, since we know most of you have busy schedules and we were the last club to be introduced this year" I say. "In the meantime, we've decided that we would like you to do a group song today, to see how you work together as a group" I say, handing out sheet music for the song Quinn and I chose. **

"**Seriously? This song is like ancient! Could you at least have picked something from this century?" Shay complains.**

"**This is a great song, and it's the song we have chosen for you, so you will do it" I say, calmly, but feeling as if I'm about to snap. I love all my daughters, but Shay really winds me up sometimes.**

"**We thought since the girls outnumber the guys by a fair way, we'd split you into Freshmans and Sophomores, and then Juniors, as that way the group sizes are roughly equal. So if the Freshmans and Sophomores go on one side of the room, and the Juniors go on the other, we've split up the parts on your sheets, so you should know who's singing what" Quinn says.**

"**Okay off you go guys" I say, nodding to the pianist to start. Carly starts the song.**

_Carly: _

_Well you're the real tough cookie_

_With the long history_

_Of breaking little hearts _

_Like the one in me_

_Brant:_

_That's OK_

_Let's see how you do it_

_Put up your dukes_

_Let's get down to it_

_Freshman and Sophomores:_

_Hit me with your best shot_

_Why don't you hit me _

_With your best shot_

_Hit me with your best shot_

_Fire away_

_Kennedy:_

_You come on with a come on_

_You don't fight fair_

_Jonah:_

_But that's OK see if I care_

_Freya:_

_Knock me down, it's all in vain_

_I'll get right back on my feet again_

_Juniors:_

_Hit me with your best shot_

_Why don't you hit me _

_With your best shot_

_Hit me with your best shot_

_Fire away_

_Connor:_

_Well you're the real tough cookie_

_With the long history_

_Of breaking little hearts_

_Like the one in me_

_Kira:_

_Before I put another notch _

_In my lipstick case_

_You better make sure_

_You put me in my place_

_Freshman and Sophomores: _

_Hit me with your best shot_

_Come on, hit me with your best shot_

_Hit me with your best shot_

_Fire Away_

_Juniors:_

_Hit me with your best shot_

_Why don't you hit me with your best shot_

_Hit me with your best shot_

_All:_

_Fire Away_

**Quinn and I hug each other after they finish performing, knowing that we picked a great group of kids this year, the kind that could be national champs.**

"**That was amazing you guys!" Quinn says.**

"**You certainly gel well as a team, but we've got a long way to go if we're going to make it to Nationals, and I want us to make it to Nationals, do you?" I ask.**

**The kids cheer, happily hugging each other after their performance. They already look like a team, and they've only been together one day. **

"**Alright, alright, we can celebrate later. Like Rachel said, we've got a long way to go to get to Nationals, and first stop on the way is Sectionals. The competition is going to be tough, so we need to start preparing now if we've got any chance of winning and we want you guys to win this thing because you can do it!" Quinn says. I smile over at her, so glad I've got this group of kids, and her by my side for my first year of teaching Glee. It's going to be a great year, I can just feel it!**

**A/N: I know, this ended up being longer than the last one, but this just felt like the length this chapter needed to be! I'm so sorry it took me so long to write, but it's a long chapter and I've had a lot of schoolwork lately, my exams are coming up, so I won't have as much time as I'd like to write in the next month or so. The good news is I have another chapter of Our Vow of Love in progress, I will hopefully be starting on the next chapter of Moving On: Senior Year soon, I finally have an idea for Back At The Start after over a year of nada, and I also have an idea for Loving Him Was Red, so things are looking good, it just depends on when I get time to get round to it all. I'd love ideas for assignments for this story, so I can get the next chapter underway, but hopefully this chapter will keep you guys occupied for a while! The songs performed in this chapter were, Lucky/The Lucky One-Britney Spears/Taylor Swift, performed by Carly and Kennedy Hudson, Call Your Girlfriend (Cups Version)-Robyn, performed by Carly Hudson, Change-Carrie Underwood, performed by Ginny Puckerman, Happy Little Pill-Troye Sivan, performed by Ginny Puckerman, Bring Me To Life-Evanescence, performed by Shannon Puckerman, Here's To Never Growing Up-Avril Lavigne, performed by Mara Clements, Brant Lopez-Pierce, Caroline "Skip" Mayfield, Seth Paisley and Kelli Westmore, Fallen Through-Skye Sweetnam, performed by Brant Lopez-Pierce, Listen-Beyonce, performed by Sierra Lopez-Pierce, Shark In The Water-VV Brown, performed by Sierra Lopez-Pierce, The Circle of Life-Lion King, performed by Sydney Lawson, If I Drink This Beer-Nashville, performed by Connor and Drew McCarthy, Not About Angels-Birdy, performed by Freya Hummel-Anderson, Nobody's Perfect-Hannah Montana, performed by Morgan Lopez-Pierce, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun-Cyndi Lauper, performed by Candice Hantz, Tale As Old As Time-Beauty and The Beast, performed by Candice Hantz and Sydney Lawson, You and I (Nobody In The World)-John Legend, performed by Josh Puckerman, What A Wonderful World-Louis Armstrong, performed by Raina Puckerman, People Help The People-Birdy, performed by Raina Puckerman, Come and Get It-Selena Gomez, performed by Kira Chang, Whenever, Wherever-Shakira, performed by Kira Chang and Hit Me With Your Best Shot-Pat Benatar, performed by Teenage Dreamers. Credit goes to Linneagb, who suggested the name Teenage Dreamers. Also, as I didn't say it last time, my OC's featured are Hayden Miller, Danny Wheeler, Henry Alexander, Skye Samson, Kyle Walker, Freddie Robinson, Chuck Baker, Jenna Cartwright, Sammy Reynolds, Sydney Lawson, Jackson Avery, Viola Barnes and Connor and Drew McCarthy. Hanna, Travis, Tyler, Kendall, Tami, Mara, Skip, Kelli and Seth were all sent to me as part of Brant's history, as was Jensen. Derek was sent as part of Josh's history, and Niko was created by Linneagb. Grant Williams from Remy's part of the last chapter is also mine. I hope you liked this chapter, and I will try to get the next one to you as soon as I possibly can, it just might take a while!**

**Review? **


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